Sleeping mom suffocates infant on Jet

Updated on: 02 December,2009 08:20 AM IST |
Agencies |

Egyptian woman was breastfeeding when she dozed off on a flight; wakes up after an hour screaming

Egyptian woman was breastfeeding when she dozed off on a flight; wakes up after an hour screaming

The Egyptian woman (29), from Washington was flying with her four-week-old daughter to Kuwait to see relatives.

Flight diverted

Cabin crew were alerted by the mom's screams in business class, and the United Airlines jet over the Atlantic at 33,000 feet was diverted to London's Heathrow for an immediate landing.

A doctor on the flight couldn't revive the little girl, and she was rushed to a London hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival.

A police source said, "This appears to be a tragic accident. The girl comes from a loving family. Her mum was going to Kuwait to show her to relatives."u00a0

Police are awaiting autopsy results from last week's tragedy, and the death is being treated as "unexplained," police said.

No arrests have been made, and it was not known whether the woman was travelling with anyone other than her child.

Officers from Scotland Yard's Child Abuse Investigation Team are probing the incident.

Twice Bitten

In 2004,u00a0 Briton Lisa Briggs smothered her baby as they slept, less than three years after losing another child to a similar tragedy.

Twenty-three-year-old Briggs fell asleep while feeding five-week-old Keitha and woke in the morning to find her lifeless by her side.

Briggs had lost her four-week-old daughter Cerese in identical circumstances.

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