GRIM END OF A JOURNEY TO THE PROMISED LAND
A farmer ploughing his fields near the Southern German town of Waldshut could not believe his eyes when he found the body of a black African youth lying in the middle of a field. At first, nobody could explain how the corpse could have ended up in the farmland of a peaceful village in the Black Forest region close to the Swiss border. Police found an airline ticket Paris-Douala-Paris and a birth certificate on the body, allowing the determination of the youth's identity and age. He was 15 years old and from Cameroun. However, no black African was reported missing with the German police.
The mystery surrounding the dead body was solved only when it came to the mind of an investigating police officer that the farmland where the body was found lies under a much frequented approach lane to Zurich international airport. Checks with Swiss authorities confirmed that Swissair flight 275, on its way from Douala to Zurich, had engaged on this lane on Friday 6 November, two days before the corpse was found. Further inquiries in Zurich and Cameroun eventually revealed that the 15 year old boy was a stowaway. Apparently the boy had hidden in the air plane's under-carriage case just before take-off in Douala. According to the police investigation, he is likely to have died a quick death as a result of lack of oxygen and low pressure due to the high altitude of the flight. The body is believed to have dropped to the earth when the plane, preparing for landing in Zurich, lowered its under-carriage.
It is not clear from press reports on the case why the boy tried to make his way to Switzerland although he appears to have had a ticket to Paris. Could he have been prohibited from boarding the plane to Paris because of insufficient travel documents?
Sources: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 9.11.98, 11.11.98.