Oman Air flight makes emergency landing in UAE after boy dies onboard

An Oman Air flight made an emergency landing in Abu Dhabi on Monday after a four-year-old Indian boy died onboard, local media reported.

The flight was heading from Saudi to the Indian state of Kozhikode in Kerala through Muscat, when the boy, Yahya Puthiyapurayil, suffered an epileptic seizure.

The incident took place 45 minutes after the flight took off from Jeddah. The boy and his family were returning after performing Umrah.

Officials in Abu Dhabi confirmed that all the formalities were quickly completed to repatriate the body.

“The local authorities expedited the procedures and once everything was completed by the late evening, we opened the embassy, cancelled the boy’s passport and issued a non-objection certificate for repatriation. The body was flown to Kerala on an early morning flight on Tuesday,” an official told Gulf News.

The burial ceremony took place in India on Tuesday afternoon, according to local reports.