This archive report was first published on 13 November 2019.
On June 30, a 29-year-old Kenyan cleaner's desperate bid to escape poverty ended in tragedy when he fell to his death from a Kenya Airways plane landing at Heathrow Airport in London.
According to an investigation by Sky News, the man had hidden under the plane's undercarriage in an attempt to stowaway to the UK without papers or paying for a ticket.
He fell approximately 3,500 feet, leaving a crater in the ground, and was identified by Sky News after his frozen body was discovered in a garden in an affluent London suburb.
The man, who worked for Colnet Cleaning Services, had been seeking a better life abroad and had even proposed marriage to a woman he had been in a relationship with for two years.
His parents, who live in Kakamega, were unaware of their son's death and had not been contacted by the police or airport authorities.
The woman he had proposed to was devastated by his death and broke down in tears when she saw pictures of his belongings that had been recovered from the scene.
She said, 'I just feel like I lost someone that I loved so much.'
The man's parents want his body to be brought back to Kenya for burial, but are concerned about the expenses involved.
