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A 63-year-old Lufthansa passenger died on board after losing “litres of blood.” The unidentified man was flying from Bangkok to Munich with his wife on February 8. Resuscitation efforts were made; however, he unfortunately passed away during the trip. After hearing about the occurrence, many took to the internet to speculate that he likely suffered from the infectious Ebola disease.
As Karin Missfelder, a passenger on the flight, told Swiss media Blick, the elderly man boarded while breathing “much too quickly” and “had cold sweats.” His wife believed that he looked exhausted because they had to rush to catch the flight. Nonetheless, the flight crew was concerned about him but allowed him to travel.
As Missfelder continued to be weary about the man’s health, she prompted a flight attendant to allow a doctor to examine the man, leading to a medical expert on board checking his pulse.
Moments later, the passenger “spit blood,” and it gushed out of his nose and mouth.
According to The Post, flight attendants attempted to perform CPR; however, the man had become still. His body was then carried into the galley of the Lufthansa plane as it headed to Thailand.
As the incident gained traction online, netizens speculated that he likely passed away from Ebola.
“Maybe something they’ve bioengineered”: Netizens believe that the Lufthansa passenger died from Ebola
Internet users were distraught after learning about the incident. Many believed that the man died from the disease.
For those uninitiated, the rare but severe illness is caused by ebolaviruses, which can spread through contact. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those who get infected by the virus do not immediately develop symptoms. However, they will likely show the following signs in a matter of days: fever, weakness, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, unexplained hemorrhaging, bleeding, and bruising, among other symptoms.
Several netizens flooded X with Ebola claims. A few comments online read:
It is worth noting that netizens are purely speculating what might have happened to the man. The exact cause of death was not made public at the time of writing this article.
Lufthansa releases a press statement after the incident gains traction online
According to ETurbo News, Lufthansa released a statement announcing that the incident occurred on the LH773 Airbus A380 flight. They added:
“Although immediate and comprehensive first aid measures were taken by the crew and a doctor on board, the passenger died during the flight. After 1.5 hours of flight time, the crew decided to return to Bangkok, where the aircraft landed normally and safely.”
The airline also added:
“Our thoughts are with the relatives of the deceased passenger. We also regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers of this flight.”
The airline made headlines last year as well after a flight headed to Germany from Texas experienced severe turbulence, leading to at least seven passengers being sent to the hospital.
