Possible Stowaway Incidents Eyed After Body Found on England Roof
Two men may have stowed away on a British Airways flight.
— -- Authorities are investigating whether two men stowed away on a British Airways flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, to London -- an 11-hour flight -- after a man’s body was found on a nearby roof.
A man’s body was found Thursday on the roof of a building in Richmond, which is located on the southwest of London, according to London's Metropolitan Police. The death is currently unexplained, but a fall from a plane remains a possible explanation, police said in the statement.
A second incident was reported when a stowaway -- a man between the ages of 25 and 30 -- was reported on a flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow Airport in London. The man was taken to a hospital in west London and remains in serious condition, police said.
Authorities are investigating the link between the two incidents.
British Airways released a statement as reports of the situation emerged.
“We are working with the Metropolitan Police and the authorities in Johannesburg to establish the facts surrounding this very rare situation,” the airline said in a statement.
The building where the body was found is used as offices for NotOnTheHighStreet.com, a curated online marketplace. According to a statement from the company, the incident is not related to the company's business or team members, and the company is cooperating in the investigation.
Mark Hirani, a shop owner near the building, said he witnessed police responding to the scene Thursday.
"I saw three or four police cars yesterday, but it was strange because we couldn't see any accident," Hirani said. "It was only this morning that we learned that they had found a body on the roof."
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."