LONDON, July 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The body of a man thought to have been a stowaway who fell from the landing gear of a Kenya Airways flight on its way into Heathrow Airport has been found in a garden in London, police said.
London’s Metropolitan Police said they were called to a home in Clapham in south London on Sunday after the body was found. A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out and the man has not yet been identified.
“At this point, police believe the man was a stowaway and had fallen from the landing gear of an inbound Kenya Airways flight to Heathrow Airport,” police said in a statement.
“A bag, water and some food were discovered in the landing gear compartment once it landed at the airport.”
“Officers will be liaising with the airline and international authorities,” it said.
Poverty and harsh social conditions in some African countries have led some people in recent years to make the perilous attempt to reach Europe and the United States by hiding in planes.
A stowaway’s body was discovered in the undercarriage of an Arik Air jet flying from Lagos to New York in 2016, while another body was found on one of its flights from Lagos to Johannesburg in the same year.
Meanwhile a teenager reportedly survived 12 hours hidden in the wheel compartment of a plane between Lagos and London in 2017. — NNN-AGENCIES
