Miraculous Survival from Aircraft Wheel at 740 km/h... Kenyan Boy Endured Hypothermia and Oxygen Deficiency

The appearance of the aircraft landing gear/photo is unrelated to the article content.
[EPA=Yonhap News Agency][Image source = Yonhap News Agency]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] A miraculous story has emerged of a teenage boy from Kenya who survived by hiding next to the wheel of an aircraft flying at 740 km/h, enduring hypothermia and oxygen deprivation for an hour.

According to the US CNN on the 9th, a 16-year-old boy was found collapsed inside the landing gear used for takeoff and landing of a Turkish Airlines cargo plane parked at Maastricht Aachen Airport in Limburg province, southeastern Netherlands, on the 4th.

The Turkish Airlines plane the boy secretly boarded was headed from Istanbul to London, stayed in London for three hours, and then moved again to the Netherlands.

The aircraft flew at a speed of 740 km/h and at an altitude of up to 5,790 meters for one hour after the boy boarded. Officials said the temperature in the landing gear area during the flight was about -30 degrees Celsius.

Police investigations confirmed that the boy had illegally entered the Netherlands after departing from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, passing through Istanbul, Turkey, and London, UK. Police are investigating with the possibility that the boy escaped from human traffickers in mind. The circumstances under which the boy hid in the aircraft have not yet been disclosed.

The police stated, "It is a miracle that the boy survived," adding, "Ordinary people would die due to cold and lack of oxygen." The boy, who received hospital treatment for hypothermia, is reported to have regained his health.

The boy requested asylum in the Netherlands and was handed over to the relevant authorities, where his refugee status will be reviewed.

Meanwhile, recently in Africa, there have been frequent incidents where mainly teenagers attempted to illegally enter Europe and other regions through aircraft cargo holds and died.

Previously, in January last year, a body of an illegal immigrant was found in the landing gear of a plane heading to Paris, France, from C?te d'Ivoire, Africa, and in July 2019, a person fell and died from a plane heading from Kenya to London.