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The stowaway is likely to be Paul Manias Pic :Photo Courtesy
Man who fell from KQ plane into a London garden identified
The stowaway who fell off a Kenya Airways plane moments before it landed at London’s Heathrow Airport in June has been identified.
Sky News has identified the man as 29-year-old Paul Manyasi who worked as an airport cleaner.
About four months after the man fell from the sky, London police released an e-fit image of the stowaway in hunt for his identity. Pictures of a bag that was found in the compartment and its contents were also released.
“This has been a very sad incident to investigate. This man has a family somewhere, who need to know what happened to their loved one,” a British police officer said while releasing the images.
“Our investigations has included liaison with the authorities in Kenya, from where the flight took off, but so far our efforts to identify this man have proved fruitless. I hope by releasing this e-fit someone known to the deceased will recognise him and make contact.”
An employee of Colnet, a company that provides cleaning services at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, has identified the man as his workmate who went missing in June, Sky News reports.
A Kenyan airport cleaner has been identified as the stowaway who fell into a south London garden from a flight bound for Heathrow.
The man was thought to have been nestled in the landing gear of a Kenya Airways flight when he fell from the aircraft and landed just feet away from a sunbather in Clapham on June 30.
Scotland Yard launched an appeal to find the man, including an e-fit and details about the items he was carrying, leading him to be identified by family and friends in Kenya.
An investigation by Sky News concluded the victim was likely to be Paul Manyasi, a cleaner who worked for little pay at Jomo Kenyatta International airport.
His girlfriend told the broadcaster she had last seen him on the morning of June 30 while they were both working together at the airport.
She said: “I called his phone and it was off. When we came in the morning the following day the supervisor called us and told us there is somebody missing.”
The woman, named as Irene in the report, recognised Mr Manyasi’s facial features from the e-fit and confirmed the possessions looked like ones he had owned.
This included a rucksack with the distinctive lettering “MCA” scrawled on it.
“Member of County Assembly,” she explained.
“He liked to be called that name. Like a nickname.”
Mr Manyasi’s parents confirmed they also saw the likeness in the e-fit and believed the items found by police had belonged to their son.
A former roommate of the stowaway in the slum of Makuru Kwa Njenga said they had spoken about leaving Kenya.
He told Sky News: “There was another job Paul was seeking. It was not in Kenya.”
Paying tribute to her late partner, with whom she had been for two years, Irene added: “He was just a jovial person. I just liked him the way he was. We had agreed one day maybe we could make a family.
“I just feel like I lost someone who I loved so much – yes, I miss him.”
