The man's body was discovered on an office roof in Richmond on
Thursday morning.
Shortly before, another man had been found unconscious in the
undercarriage of a British Airways jet that had just arrived at
nearby Heathrow airport from Johannesburg. He was taken to hospital
in critical condition.
"At this time there is no evidence to link the death to the
discovery of a stowaway in the undercarriage of a plane at Heathrow
Airport," police said in a statement.
"However this is one line of enquiry into identifying the deceased
and the circumstances of his death."
Police said the surviving man had been found about an hour earlier.
"At around 08:30hrs on 18 June police at Heathrow Airport were
called to reports of a suspected stowaway on a flight from
Johannesburg to Heathrow," they said.
"The man, believed aged 24, was found in the undercarriage of the
plane and was taken to hospital. His condition is now described as
critical."
British Airways said in a short statement that it was working with
police and authorities in Johannesburg "to establish the facts
surrounding this very rare situation."
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Bodies have previously been found in the street in the Richmond and
Kew areas of London which lie below the point at which many jets
open their landing gear doors to put the wheels down on the Heathrow
approach.
Experts say the chances of a stowaway managing to avoid either being
crushed by the wheels as they retract after take-off or being frozen
to death during the flight are very small.
(Reporting by Stephen Addison; editing by Kate Holton)
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