UK: Dead man found in undercarriage of plane at London’s Gatwick Airport

The wheel bay of an aircraft that was flying from the Gambia to Britain contained a dead individual, according to Gambian police this week. A black male passenger's unidentifiable body was discovered on a TUI Airways flight from Banjul, the capital of the Gambia, to Gatwick airport in London, according to a statement released by the administration of the country on Tuesday. The incident occurred on a flight on December 5, and this week, the Sussex Metropolitan Police in England provided information on the incident to the Gambia's government, according to Sankareh.

"According to the information, the deceased black male was found within the wheel bay of the aircraft without identification documents to establish his name, age, nationality or travel itinerary. It is, therefore, not clear at this stage, who he is," he said.

Also read: Covid-19 scare in China: Govt to order Random sampling at airports for international arriving passengers

Gambian authorities are collaborating with British police, and the body has been taken to a morgue for DNA testing, and an investigation is underway, according to the statement.
Stowaways on planes and ships from Africa to Europe have happened before.

In 2015, Dutch authorities discovered a body in the landing gear of a plane from Africa in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. In November, three stowaways were found on a ship's rudder in the Canary Islands after an 11-day ocean voyage from Nigeria.

"This unfortunate incident, while rare, indicates how desperate some people are to the point of taking such a risky way to migrate," said Rida Lyammouri, a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan-based organization focused on economics and policy. "This will not deter some West Africans from taking risky attempts to reach Europe, and unfortunately, we will continue to see people die in the Mediterranean and the Sahel desert," he said.

With inputs from agencies