KLANG: The viral photo of a boy on social media claiming that he was a foreign stowaway found in a container at Westport was confirmed by the South Klang police on Friday (Jan 20).
However, the foreign boy was not a stowaway who had sneaked into the country, but was instead unintentionally locked up in the container after playing in it with some friends in Chittagong in Bangladesh.
South Klang OCPD ACP Cha Hoong Fong said the boy was discovered in a weak state in the container by a port worker involved in shipping operations.
The 43-year-old man reported the find at the Pandamaran police station at 1.53pm on Wednesday, added ACP Cha.
ALSO READ: No human trafficking in case of boy found in shipping container, says Saifuddin
“The local man reported that at about 9pm on Jan 17, he had found the boy when inspecting the container while overseeing the ship’s entry into Westport," said ACP Cha.
The boy was found weak and listless in the container which had arrived at Westport onboard vessel MV Integra that had departed from Chittagong on Jan 12 and arrived at Westport on Jan 17.
Investigations were carried out by the South Klang Criminal Investigation Department, and based on the child’s statement, the boy had gone into the container while playing with some friends and ended up getting locked inside.
“There was no foul play in the incident," said ACP Cha.
He added that the boy has been treated at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital and was currently in stable condition.
ACP Cha said that the case has been referred to the Immigration Department for the boy’s documents to be processed as well as for him to be sent home in the same cargo vessel that he had arrived in.
