5 Held after Kid Slips Airport Security, Travels to Turkey Unnoticed
Five people have been ordered detained in connection with the bizarre incident of the 12-year-old kid who managed to breach security procedures at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport and board a plane to Turkey, state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.
“State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr has launched an investigation into the incident of the child Khaled al-Shobti, 12, who boarded an Istanbul-bound plane from the Rafik Hariri International Airport,” NNA said.
He ordered the arrest of five police and General Security members and airport employees over “negligence” charges, it added.
According to a statement issued by the airport's administration, the child sneaked through several checkpoints and managed to board a Turkey-bound Middle East Airlines plane although he was not carrying a passport or a boarding pass.
According to media reports, the child is a Palestinian refugee who hails from the Bourj al-Barajneh camp.
“He sneaked into the women's queue and when he noticed that security agents were busy searching the travelers, he managed to cross the first checkpoint before walking behind a traveling family that allowed him to cross the second checkpoint,” As Safir newspaper has reported.
“Whenever someone asks him for his passport, he would say it is with his mother who got ahead of him or would follow him,” the daily said.
“This was also al-Shobti's answer to the flight attendant who was standing at the door of the Istanbul-bound MEA plane, who asked him to wait at the door until his mother arrives. However, he waited until she turned around and managed to enter the plane and sit on a seat before entering the plane's lavatory and staying there until takeoff,” As Safir reported.
The cabin crew knew what happened when they conducted a count and found out they had an additional traveler on the plane, the daily said, adding that the child was prevented from leaving the plane and was returned to Lebanon.
