Share

Stowaway survives flight from Ethiopia, seeks asylum in Sweden

Stockholm (dpa) - A stowaway on a plane from Ethiopia survived the eight-hour journey in the cargo hold, where he was discovered on Friday, police said.

The man has applied for asylum in Sweden.

Duty officer Stefan Fardigs with the border police at Stockholm Arlanda Airport said baggage handlers discovered the man, born in 1991, when they were unloading an Ethiopian Airlines flight that arrived early on Friday.

They alerted police and an ambulance.

A medical check-up showed he was fine and the man said via an interpreter that he had hidden in the cargo hold at Addis Ababa's Bole Airport, Fardigs told dpa.

"He had a badge that showed he was an airport employee, which could explain how he managed to get onboard," Fardigs said.

The stowaway, who said he was an Ethiopian national, was "despite the spectacular travel method treated as other asylum seekers", he added.

He has been handed over to the Migration Agency that will process his application.

Fardigs said he was not suspected of any crime.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should the Proteas pick Faf du Plessis for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Faf still has a lot to give ...
67% - 911 votes
No! It's time to move on ...
33% - 441 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.79
+1.2%
Rand - Pound
23.45
+1.5%
Rand - Euro
20.10
+1.5%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.29
+0.9%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+2.0%
Platinum
921.50
-0.4%
Palladium
963.00
-2.8%
Gold
2,336.64
+0.2%
Silver
27.34
-0.4%
Brent Crude
89.01
+1.1%
Top 40
69,556
+1.6%
All Share
75,552
+1.6%
Resource 10
62,555
+0.7%
Industrial 25
104,333
+1.8%
Financial 15
16,164
+2.3%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE