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Body Of Child Found In Wheel Well Of American Military Plane

RAMSTEIN AFB, Germany (CBS SF) - The body of a child was discovered in the wheel well of a military plane after a routine post-flight inspection after the plane touched down at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, according to CBS News.

Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said the teen stowaway was a black male who may have been of African origin. The flight originated in Mali but had other stops in between, CBS correspondent David Martin reports, so it's unclear where the boy was able to board the flight.

German authorities are expected to perform an autopsy, and the cause of death is not yet known, however wheel well stowaways rarely survive the severe cold and oxygen deprivation experienced during such flights.

In April, a South Bay teen survived a similar stowaway journey from San Jose to Hawaii. Yahye Abdi described that experience to KPIX 5 last month.

Military personnel are investigating how a teen gained access to a U.S. Military plane to begin with.

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