Guardian News and Media
London
A suspected stowaway has been found on the roof of a west London office building after plunging to his death from a British Airways flight.
The man is believed to have climbed on to the Boeing 747 before it flew more than 12,875km from Johannesburg in South Africa to Heathrow.
The victim fell on to the offices of online marketplace Notonthehighstreet.com on a busy road in Richmond, south-west London, which is below the flight path, on Thursday morning. Flight data reveals the plane would have been at an altitude of around 1,400ft (427m) when it passed over the area.
A second man, understood to be 24 years old, survived the journey and was in a serious condition in hospital. He was believed to have been found unconscious in the undercarriage of the plane at Heathrow before the other man’s body was discovered.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “We were called at 9.35am on Thursday to Kew Road, Richmond, to reports of a body discovered. Officers and the London Ambulance Service attended and found the body of a dead man on the roof of a business premises. The death is currently being treated as unexplained.
“A postmortem examination will be held in due course and inquiries are ongoing to establish the male’s identity. No arrests have been made.
“In regards to the male who survived, police were alerted at 8.28am on Thursday to reports of a suspected stowaway on a flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow.  The man, aged between 25 to 30, has been taken to a west London hospital and currently remains in a serious condition. Inquiries are ongoing to establish the man’s identity.”
A British Airways spokeswoman said: “We are working with the Metropolitan police and the authorities in Johannesburg to establish the facts surrounding this very rare case.”
A spokesman for Notonthehighstreet.com said the incident was unrelated to the business or its team members. “We are co-operating with the ongoing police inquiry,” he said.
The location where the body was found is underneath the busy flight path of aircraft coming in to Heathrow.
Staff from the business, which describes itself as a curated online marketplace, were making no comment other than to refer to the statement it had released.
A local vicar described the incident as a stark reminder of how desperate others are to reach a better life in Europe.
“It’s very shocking when something like happens on your doorstep. Coupled with all the migrants coming across the high seas into Europe from north Africa, it’s just another example of how desperate people are to reach this country to try to find a better life for themselves,” said the Rev Neil Summers.
“It’s horribly sad when something like this happens. Our sympathies go out to relatives and friends of those involved.”
There was sympathy, too, from Hadt Khoshkbar, who runs a printing business next door to the Notonthehighstreet.com offices, recounting how he had also come to the UK in 1976 from Iran.
“This is at least the third time that bodies have fallen from aircraft in this area. The other one I can remember was in Mortlake,” he added.