Nigeria: Body of suspected stowaway found on runway, all flights diverted

An airport was forced to divert flights and close down a runway, after a body was found on the tarmac.

The body of a man was discovered on the runway at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria.

The airport temporarily shut down as a result of the grim find.

According to local media, during the temporary shutdown, international flights were unable to land or take off from the airport, with some being turned away completely.

It is understood the man is yet to be identified, and an investigation has been launched to discover who he was and how his body came to be on the runway. Initial reports suggest he may have been a stowaway who fell from the wheel-well of an aircraft that was taxiing to take off.

The gruesome discovery was made during a routine inspection of the tarmac.

Flights were diverted after the body was found. Photo / Getty Images

"Nobody can say much now, but he may have been knocked down by the wingspan or undercarriage of a jumbo jet, but it is too early to say anything like that now," Aviation security expert and former military commandant of MMIA Group Captain John Ojikutu said.

Ojikutu said the number of houses close to the airport could be an area of focus as to where the man came from.

"We need to examine the issue of houses that have been built too close to the Lagos airport," he said.

"They need to find out the flights that landed before that incident. The current airport perimeter fence is not a security fence and we need to do something about it."

Further reports suggest that the man might have dropped from the aircraft during the night of Wednesday, May 18, and may have been crushed by subsequent aircraft that landed or took off that night.

"The rule says no building should be situated less than 6m to the airport structure or fence. However, we have seen cases of people crossing the runway before.

"The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and [Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria] need to investigate this to ascertain what really happened."