The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that a five-year-old Taiwanese girl died from an illness during a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Germany, despite an emergency landing in Kuwait in a bid to save her life.
In a statement issued yesterday, the ministry said the girl, who was previously misreported as being seven years old, died before the plane landed in Kuwait.
It did not reveal details of her condition at the family’s request.
“The Taipei Commercial Representative Office in the state of Kuwait immediately sent staff to meet the girl’s family at the airport when it was notified of the situation,” the ministry said, adding that office staff assisted the family with paperwork to transport the girl’s body.
In a statement to Dubai daily Gulf News, Emirates confirmed its flight EK049, which departed Dubai on Tuesday at 8:51am for Munich, was diverted to Kuwait because of a medical emergency.
“The passenger received immediate medical attention upon landing, but was unfortunately pronounced dead by an emergency doctor on the ground,” the carrier said in the statement.
While the statement did not mention the girl’s nationality or the cause of death, German tabloid Bild said she was from Taiwan and had a fever.
She was flying with her mother, grandmother and siblings, the newspaper said.
The girl was unconscious about 45 minutes after takeoff and first aid was administered by crew members and a doctor during the flight, the newspaper said.
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