The identity of the young Ivorian man found dead on Wednesday in the landing gear of an airplane connecting Abidjan to Paris was revealed on Friday by the Ivorian authorities. It was a 14-year-old boy who was in grade 4, the Ministry of Transport announced.
"This is Laurent Ani Guibahi, born February 5, 2005 in Yopougon (working class district of Abidjan), pupil in class of 4th Niangon Lokoua (sub-district of Yopougon) whose identity has been confirmed by the parents" , according to a press release.
"Hidden in the green spaces"
The ministry specifies having viewed the images of the surveillance cameras of the airport: “Ani Guibahi Laurent Barthélémy accessed the landing gear of the aircraft by grabbing it when it was preparing to take off for its takeoff around 22.55 ".
In remarks to the daily Fraternité Matin, Minister Amadou Koné had stressed: “On the video we see an individual dressed in a T-shirt […] We think he had access to the airport space by climbing the wall . Then, he hid in the green spaces and grabbed onto the landing gear of the plane at the time of the flight ”.
"Death from cold or suffocation"
The government claims to have "undertaken the strengthening" of "security provisions in the airport space of the airport. Several measures have been adopted, in particular the clearing of the right-of-way of the area adjoining the airport area with a view to establishing a safety buffer zone around the airport ”.
The body was discovered around 6:40 am in the landing gear well after the plane had landed at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. The Bobigny prosecution indicated that it had entrusted the Gendarmerie des Transports Aeriales (GTA) with an investigation to find the causes of death.
According to a source close to the investigation, the young boy found on Wednesday "died either by asphyxiation or from cold". Temperatures drop to -50 ° C between 9,000 and 10,000 meters, the altitude at which airliners fly. The landing gear housings are neither heated nor pressurized.
Stowaways found dead from the cold
In recent years, several stowaways, including teenagers from Africa, have been found dead from the cold or run over in undercarriages.
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In France, the last case dates back to April 2013. The body of a probably minor boy, an unsuccessful immigrant, had been found at Roissy airport in the landing gear of an airplane from Cameroon .