Libya Crash: Sole Survivor's Family Speaks

TILBURG, The Netherlands, May 18, 2010 — -- Ruben van Assouw, the 9-year-old sole survivor of the plane crash in Libya last week, is doing well and is expected to make a full recovery, the boy's family said in a statement released this morning.

"He has had a bite to eat and has been watching a little TV," the statement read. "It is incredible how quickly he is improving."

The family said the boy, who underwent four-and-a-half hours of surgery to repair multiple fractures in both his legs after the devastating accident Wednesday, will have to undergo another operation.

"The surgery will be scheduled as soon as Ruben is strong enough," the statement read.

Ruben's parents, Patrick, 40, and Trudy, 41, along with his 11-year-old brother Enzo died last week when their plane crashed on approach to the airport in Tripoli, Libya.

The family had been on a camping holiday in South Africa to celebrate Patrick and Trudy's twelve-and-a-half year wedding anniversary, a Dutch tradition.

Their youngest son was the only survivor of the fiery wreck that killed all 103 other passengers onboard.

Rescue workers found Ruben still strapped in his seat near the front of the plane, unconscious, but breathing.

The boy was flown back to the Netherlands by Libyan ambulance jet on Saturday, accompanied by two doctors and his aunt and uncle, who had traveled to Tripoli to be at their nephew's side.