MUMBAI: A west African man died after falling 50 feet from the Sahar elevated road while trying to escape from the custody of immigration officials on Wednesday.
Police said Igbele Emeka Bon Aventure alias Emanuel Da Silva (34), detained on suspicion of travelling from Nairobi to Mumbai on forged documents, jumped out of a moving jeep while being brought back to the international airport after a check-up at Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle and leapt across the elevated road to the adjoining corridor. However, he miscalculated the distance and fell to his death.
The immigration officials took him to R N Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle (W). Around 6.30am, when they were returning to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and were on the Sahar elevated road on their way to the departure point of T2, Aventure suddenly jumped out of the moving jeep. "He tried to jump across to the other end of the elevated road corridor, but fell into the gap and died on the spot. We have informed the African embassy about the incident," DCP (zone VIII) Anil Kumbhare said.
The Sahar elevated road connects the Western Express Highway in Vile Parle with the forecourts of Terminal 2 at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Sahar police have registered a case of accidental death. They have sought the CCTV footage of the spot to understand the sequence of events. "We are verifying Aventure's travel documents which, immigration officials suspect, are fake," Kumbhare said.
Detained African flyer was taken to hospital as he looked unwell