Boy, 5, survives 12-foot airport fall

By ARIEL FERNANDEZ

A five-year-old Malaysian boy miraculously survived a 12-foot fall yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1.

The victim was identified as Muhammad Alif Bin who was left unattended by his father and a grandfather who were busy preparing for their hand-carried luggage for their Philippine Airline flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Based on the report of Dr. Denise Lauren Dalmacion, the boy may have climbed the low wall partition of the departure level at the East Satellite at around 8:22 a.m. and slipped onto the carpeted arrival concourse.

Medical personnel attended to the boy who was conscious but crying in pain.

The report said the boy was coherent and not in overt cardio-respiratory distress. There was blood from superficial cuts of the lower and upper lips and abrasions on the mid forehead and chin.

The doctors observed that the victim was able to move all four extremities and suffered slight physical injuries secondary to fall and head injury.

An intravenous line was inserted on the victim and his neck was immobilized before being rushed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Pasay City.

The 66-year-old grandfather collapsed after learning what happened and he, too, was brought to the hospital.

The names of the victim’s father and grandfather were not provided.

Both the boy and his grandfather were later released from the hospital.