Mundakkal and Binoy with the girl.
Baby girl dies on board flight
MANAMA, March 3, 2015
An 18-month-old baby girl died on board a Gulf Air flight bound for Bahrain from Cochin, India, yesterday, said a report.
Hrishipriya, the only daughter of Bahrain residents Binoy Mundakkal and Ashwini Binoy, fell ill while enroute from Cochin with her mother, the report in Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister newspaper, said.
The flight was diverted to Abu Dhabi, a Gulf Air spokeswoman confirmed.
'The incident happened onboard GF271, which was flying from Cochin to Bahrain,' she said. 'The flight was diverted to Abu Dhabi International Airport due to the medical condition of one of the passengers, an infant, who later passed away.'
According to sources at Bahrain International Airport, flight GF271 left Cochin at 4.20 am local time and landed in Bahrain at 10.10 am, almost four hours later than its scheduled arrival time of 6.20 am.
The child's mother, realising her baby had died, collapsed in grief on the plane and was taken to the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi.
'She was treated and later recovered enough to be taken back to the airport,' said a source at Abu Dhabi airport.
Hrishipriya's body, meanwhile, was taken to the hospital morgue.
A reporter in India following the story told the GDN that the child had symptoms of fever and started vomiting before she died.
According to one of Mundakkal's colleagues, the baby was on her maiden trip to Bahrain. 'She had a heart condition at birth and had undergone surgery,' he said. 'The mother and child were coming to Bahrain after treatment.'
Mundakkal has left for Abu Dhabi.
A passenger on board the flight recounted the ordeal. 'The incident happened when we were close to Bahrain,' he said. 'The child was suffocating and an air hostess and the mother took the child to the pantry area.
'Following an announcement for medical assistance two doctors on board went to help. Soon it was announced that the flight was landing in Abu Dhabi.'
Mundakkal works as an accountant in Abu Dawod Al Safa Company in Seef. The couple hail from Trissur, Kerala. - TradeArabia News Service
