An Iraqi Airways flight from Baghdad to Guangzhou in China made an emergency landing at the Kolkata airport after a teenager on board suddenly fell ill.
The Iraqi Airways flight #IA473 with 100 passengers and 15 crew on board made a diversion from its course and landed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here at 10:18 pm on Wednesday.
The Iraqi teenager had suddenly fallen ill inside the Boeing 787-8 (registration YI-ATD) about 30 minutes before it touched down.
According to an Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson, a medical team present at the airport immediately attended to the passenger.
The airport health officer (APHO) checked the passenger and found no pulse. Neither did the doctor find any heartbeat. The doctor referred the passenger to the nearest hospital for further evaluation.
The passenger, a 16-year-old Iraqi girl, was declared “brought dead” when she was taken to a hospital in the city.
At about 1.18 am on Thursday, the teenager and her two co-passengers were offloaded after completion of formalities. They were taken to a private hospital by an AAI ambulance.
The hospital said the passenger was brought dead, the AAI official added.
It was difficult to communicate with her relatives, who were travelling with the girl, since they could not speak in English, the officials said.
Police sources said the Iraqi girl’s body will be handed over to the family after formalities are completed. The NSCBI police station will provide the NOC following which her parents will be able to take the body back home, they said.
