'No Evidence' Linking Body on Roof to Plane Stowaway, London Police Say
Police said there is no clear link between the building body and stowaway.
— -- Authorities in London say there is no evidence linking a man's body found on a building roof to a stowaway discovered on a British Airlines plane.
Police were investigating the possibility that two men stowed away on an 11-hour British Airways flight after a man's body was found on a London roof and a stowaway was found in the undercarriage of a plane at Heathrow Airport.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "At this time there is no evidence to link the death to the discovery of a stowaway in the undercarriage of a plane at Heathrow Airport; however this is one line of inquiry into identifying the deceased and the circumstances of his death."
Police added: "The body is so far unidentified and inquiries are ongoing into this and how long it had been at the scene. No next of kin have yet been informed."
The stowaway -- a man between the ages of 25 and 30 -- was discovered after a flight from South Africa landed in London. Police said he was taken to a London hospital in serious condition. Hillingdon Hospital reported his condition as critical.
British Airways said in a statement that it is "working with the Metropolitan Police and the authorities in Johannesburg to establish the facts surrounding this very rare situation."
Resident Andrew Spooner said he sometimes thinks about stowaways when watching planes fly overhead.
"You hear stories of bodies falling out. And it sounds a bit macabre, but sometimes I look up at the planes going past and I wonder if I'll ever see a body falling out," Spooner said. "It's really shocking and really horrible and really desperate how far people with go. ... But also, I'm not massively surprised. I'm a little bit surprised it's so close to where I live. I'm literally about a hundred yards away from where it happened, so that's quite worrying."