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Baby dies on plane; diverted to Abu Dhabi

Child became uneasy half-way into flight from Kochi to Bahrain

Mrs Ashwini Binoy, husband Binoy Mundakkal, an accountant with a private company in Manama, Bahrain, with their baby Hrishipriya. (Supplied)

A one-year old Indian child has died on board an airplane flying from Kochi to Bahrain, which forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Hrishipriya, daughter of Binoy and Ashwini, who was travelling with her mother on Gulf Air Flight GF271 to Manama, became uneasy half-way into the flight and died on the plane. The flight was diverted to Abu Dhabi Airport because of the infant’s sickness.

According to information from reliable sources, the parents of the child hail from Keezhupillikkara near Thripprayar in Kerala’s Thrissur district.

The baby’s body has been taken to Khalifa Hospital in the UAE capital, a source in Abu Dhabi Airport confirmed to Emirates 24|7.

The flight later landed in Manama at around 10.10 am, according to Bahrain Airport officials.

Normally, when such deaths happen on the aircraft, airline officials contact the airport staff from where the person boarded the flight and in case of minors, the person authorised to pick up the baby is contacted. In this case, the baby’s mother was with her when she developed sickness. It is not known whether the baby suffered from any major illness before boarding the flight.

According to IATA rules, the station that issued the ticket must be contacted in case of death on board.

When contacted, Gulf Air office in Kochi and Manama did not have details on the case.

According to IATA rules, if a person is dead or presumed dead on air, the body has to be moved to a vacant seat or one with few passengers nearby.

As earlier reported by Emirates 24|7, a number of deaths have been reported from mid-air flights.