STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 14 (UPI) — An Ethiopian man seeking asylum was found in the luggage hold of an aircraft Friday after it arrived in Sweden from Ethiopia.
The unidentified stowaway, believed to be in his 20s, was detained by Swedish police at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport after the Ethiopian Airlines plane arrived from Addis Ababa. The eight-hour flight had a stopover in Rome, but authorities believe he entered the unheated luggage area of the plane in Addis Ababa.
“He was found when they were unloading the cargo from the plane. They opened the compartment and there he was. He was not inside a suitcase; he was sitting down in some way. I can’t recall any case like this at Swedish airports happening before,” said Henrik Kelfve, spokesman for airport operator Swedavia.
The man said he was employed at Addis Ababa’s airport, and came seeking asylum in Sweden.
“We have talked to him via an interpreter and the purpose of the journey here was to seek asylum. He is not suspected of any crime and despite his spectacular route to Sweden, his case will now be handled in the same was as other asylum seekers,” police spokesman Stefan Fardigs said.
Sweden was second only to Germany, among European Union countries, in granting asylum to refugees in 2014. It offered asylum to 35,000 of 81,000 applicants.
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