Story of 10-Year-Old Boy Who Died Hidden Under Plane's Undercarriage Outrages the World

He was only ten years old and had hidden alone in the landing gear of a Boeing 777 on which he hoped to reach Europe from Abijan. He was dressed in the light clothing he was accustomed to in the Ivory Coast. And at dawn, at Paris's Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, he arrived dead, after a night in the air without oxygen and in temperatures of -50 degrees Celsius. Air France simply said: "We confirm the death of a stowaway," without specifying his age. Nothing is known about the child, not even his name. Last night, the little boy had managed to break into an incredible security breach at the Ivorian airport and climbed onto the wheels of the landing gear, slipping into the compartment where the landing gear is retracted after takeoff. A very narrow space where one risks being crushed, devoid of any heating or pressurization. The child spent the night there, likely unable to survive the first hour, during which the plane cruises between 9.000 and 10.000 meters. His body was discovered before 7:00 this morning, after the Boeing landed. Air France described it as a "human tragedy," and the prosecutor's office entrusted the investigation to the Air Transport Gendarmerie, but the boy's age, approximately 10 years old, was immediately established. While there have been numerous cases of stowaways, especially adolescents, hiding in the landing gear compartment, the last recorded in France dates back to April 2013. That case also involved a boy who had attempted everything to reach Europe from his home country, Cameroon. Ivorian air security sources noted that "beyond the human tragedy, there is a huge breach in security at Abidjan's Felix Houphouet-Boigny Airport." Following the horrific discovery, associations, NGOs, and immigrant advocacy groups responded immediately. From Italy, the Community of Sant'Egidio stated that this tragedy "cannot leave us indifferent." "This tragedy, similar to that of the two Guinean teenagers, Yaguine and Fodè, who died in August 1999 on the plane taking them to Belgium," the Community recalls, "must push Europe to listen to Africa's cry by concretely and urgently supporting its development, and African countries to care for the many young people who are crying out for school, work, and a future."