Dawn.com: Seven people die on board Paris-Tokyo flight

Dawn.com ^ | July 13, 2002 | Dawn.com

[mikegi]

Seven people die on board Paris-Tokyo flight: report

MOSCOW, July 13: A flight from Paris to Tokyo was forced to make an emergency landing today in Khabarovsk following the as yet unexplained deaths of seven people on board, Interfax quoted airport officials as saying. The plane requested to make the emergency landing in Russian city following the death of one passenger, but during its descent six other people fell ill and died, the officials said. The report said the plane "has been placed in quarantine", but gave no further details. (AFP) (Updated @ 13:25)

[mikegi]

I found a follow-up story on Kyodo that said the wife of Japan's incoming FTC head was the passenger who died (it didn't mention six others dying). The reports are conflicting on cause of death, one said a stroke and the others say "unspecified illness".

One person dying is not suspicious, but if it turns out that several others did then I'd get concerned about some sort of chemical attack.

[swarthyguy]

Confirmed as one dead; heart attack. Late night radio news.

[ladyjane]

Did they ever find that missing cyanide?

[geologist]

perhaps they served suishi, and the chef that did the 'blow fish' was careless ...or botulism in something they ate ...

[mikegi]

Yep. Of course, as soon as I posted I found a correction on bbc.co.uk. Here's their version:

Saturday, 13 July, 2002, 07:54 GMT 08:54 UK Plane in emergency landing in Russia The Russian news agency, Interfax, is reporting that a flight from Paris to Tokyo has been forced to make an emergency landing near the Siberian city of Khabarovsk. Airport officials are quoted as saying the pilot requested permission to land after a Japanese woman on board died, of a stroke. Six other people were injured during the descent. Interfax has corrected its earlier report that all seven had died; it has attributed the mistake to a faulty translation.

[Clara Lou]

Six other people were injured during the descent.
Very interesing. Doesn't seem to jibe with the one having a heart attack.

[alisasny]

Maybe they were injured because the were trying to help the victim and were not in their seats. Plane could have hit trubulance and they all went flying and were injured. Its possible.

[biffalobull]

The reports are conflicting on cause of death, one said a stroke and the others say "unspecified illness".

I'm glad I am not starting out my career in life selling airline tickets.

[Howie]

I worked for a few years in a plant in an industrial park adjacent to an airport. There is a catering service across the street dedicated to serving the airliners. The characters that show up for work there, before they put on their uniforms, look like a lineup of Alqueda.

[gitmo]

Six other people were injured during the descent. Interfax has corrected its earlier report that all seven had died; it has attributed the mistake to a faulty translation.

Must have been some descent!

[Clara Lou]

Possible, but not likely. It will be interesting to read the details, if they come out.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

There is a catering service across the street dedicated to serving the airliners. The characters that show up for work there, before they put on their uniforms, look like a lineup of Alqueda...

One of the many reasons I never eat airline food. (I'm a frequent flyer.)

Grab a sandwich and carry it on, folks.

[strela]

Skip the fish course. Trust me.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Can you revise the title? Only passenger one died on board due to natural causes, based on most recent Japanese language reports.

IMHO the title, as is, alarms and suggests 'terrorism'.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Can you revise the title? Only one passenger died on board due to natural causes, based on most recent Japanese language reports.

IMHO the title, as is, alarms and suggests 'terrorism'.

[T. P. Pole]

Skip the fish course. Trust me.

But I didn't have the salmon.

[Don Myers]

bttt

[strela]

But I didn't have the salmon.

Might want to pass on the tournedos of beef as well. Sealed candy bars and breath mints should be safe.

[virgil]

1 person dying I would not be suspicous. 7 people I would suspect carbon monoxide poisoning.