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Update: Plane diverted to Shannon as child dies

by infomatique | April 22, 2008 at 03:27 pm | 480 views | 4 comments

UPDATE:

The inquest into the death of a two-and-a-half-year-old child who died on a transatlantic flight last Tuesday opened in Ennis today.

The inquest heard that the child, Lemuna Armadan Osman, died on board the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to JFK Airport 40 minutes before it made an emergency landing at Shannon at 2.40pm.

Efforts had been made by flight attendants and a doctor on board to save the child's life.

The family was among a group of 24 Eritrean nationals who were part of a repatriation programme being organised by the Migration Development Agency.

The child's father, Armadan Osman Biddo, told the inquest that he was the father of six children and that they had fled their home in Eritrea due to war.

He said that his daughter first became ill while they were crossing mountains fleeing to Addis Ababa.

He said the child may have had pneumonia, and was given an injection and a cough syrup in Addis Ababa.

Evidence was heard today that the child became very ill, vomiting and coughing on the flight.

The inquest was also told that medical evidence was not available and it was adjourned until October.

Meanwhile efforts are being made to fly the family and the body of Lemuna Armadan Osman to New York.

Gardaí in Co Clare are investigating the circumstances of the death of a two-year-old child on board a flight from Germany to the US.

The plane was forced to make an unscheduled landing at Shannon Airport this afternoon.

It is understood the little girl was among a group of 24 Eritrean nationals who were part of a repatriation programme being organised by the International Organisation for Migration.

They were on a Luftansa flight from Frankfurt to JFK in New York when a medical emergency arose with the child and the aircraft diverted to Shannon.

It is understood there were 303 passengers on board and over 20 crew.

Gardaí are interviewing the group which was with the child as well as other passengers who were seated close by to try to establish the circumstances which lead to the child's death.

The child's body will be transferred to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for a post mortem to establish the exact cause of death.

Established in 1951, IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.

With 122 member states, a further 18 states holding observer status and offices in over 100 countries, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.

IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.

The IOM Constitution recognizes the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement.

IOM works in the four broad areas of migration management:

Migration and development
Facilitating migration
Regulating migration
Forced migration.