Unbreakable

[Wolf Hopper]

Amazing.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (July 10) - A 3-year-old Sudanese boy who was the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed 116 people will be flown aboard a medically equipped plane to London for surgery.

The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, will charter a plane from Germany to fly to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and pick up the boy, Mohammed el-Fateh Osman.

The child, whose mother died in the crash, is in a stable condition in a Khartoum hospital after first being treated in Port Sudan, close to where the Sudan Airways Boeing 737 crashed shortly after takeoff Tuesday.

Sheik Zayed, who left the Emirates this week for Switzerland on a private visit, announced Wednesday that he will personally pay for the child's transfer to London and treatment, the Emirates' official news agency reported.

The physician monitoring the child, Dr. Omar el-Amin, said Thursday that his hospital has been directed to accept the offer.

``We have all the facilities here to perform the operations, but the government is saying we could not but accept this offer ... in the best interest of the child,'' he told The Associated Press.

Abdel Hadi Abu Sabaa, a relative of the child, told reporters that he and a female relative would accompany the boy to London.

``We have been served with special passports from the Foreign Ministry and the British Embassy issued visas for us,'' Abu Sabaa said.

The boy's father and elder sister live in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum.

It was unclear which hospital in London the boy would be taken to or when he would leave. The plane is expected in Khartoum on Friday.

Aviation experts have been probing the ill-fated airliner's black box and other evidence in a bid to learn what caused the crash, which killed 116 people, including three people from India and one each from Britain, China, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. There was also a woman whose nationality was unknown, state radio said.

A team of experts flew to the debris-covered scene to investigate the crash, and recovered the black box flight recorder Tuesday. Initial reports cited a technical problem.

07/10/03 16:09 EDT

[Craig S.]

Great title for the thread, Steve!

I remember something similar back in 1987, when a plane crashed in Detroit (Romulus?), killing almost 160 people. The only survivor was a 4-year-old girl.

[pathogan]

...I think it simply wasnt their time.Good title,steve

[Ytown Tribe fan]

It makes sense, though. Unlike the movie starring Bruce Willis, the most likely survivor of a violent crash would be a child, since their bones aren't nearly so set and hard as adults' are, and because they are simply smaller, which increases the odds of avoiding injury by falling or flying parts. That leaves only a huge post-crash blaze as the biggest threat.

I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

[WiredTiger]

Originally Posted by Craig S.

Great title for the thread, Steve!

I remember something similar back in 1987, when a plane crashed in Detroit (Romulus?), killing almost 160 people. The only survivor was a 4-year-old girl.

I just saw an interview with her in the last six months or so. It was amazing she survived.