Body of South African stowaway discovered

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - The body of a South African stowaway has been found at London’s Heathrow Airport, the first tragedy of its kind in many years.

The Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) said in a statement Friday that the corpse of an unidentified person was discovered in the landing gear bay of a Boeing 747 which arrived at Heathrow on a direct flight from Cape Town on Thursday.

Acsa confirmed that the incident appears to coincide with a security breach at the airport, when a man scaled the fence at the Cape Town International Airport and security were unable to apprehend him.

Security cameras revealed that the man was seen running towards the aircraft which was at the end of the runway in its holding pattern preparing for takeoff.

A search of the airfield was immediately conducted but the person was not found.

Acsa was then alerted about the grim discovery shortly after the plane landed in the UK.

An aircraft on a long-haul flight experiences temperatures as low as 60C below freezing, making survival impossible.

The Airports Company said a full investigation is underway.
-0- PANA CU/SEG 24Aug2012