Afghan refugee gives birth on US evacuation plane
Reuters
August 23, 2021 11:35 MYT
August 23, 2021 11:35 MYT
An Afghan woman gave birth to a baby girl on board a U.S. evacuation aircraft on Saturday (August 21) moments after the plane landed at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the U.S. Air Force said. Olivia Chan reports.
WASHINGTON: An Afghan woman gave birth on board a U.S. evacuation plane on Saturday, moments after landing at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the U.S. Air Force said.
The woman delivered a baby girl in the cargo bay of an Air Force C-17 aircraft after going into labour and experiencing complications during the flight, U.S. Air Mobility Command said on Twitter.
"The aircraft commander decided to descend in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilize and save the mother's life," the tweet said.
The woman was part of a group fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan and was on the second stage of an evacuation flight that had taken off from a base in the Middle East.
The mother and baby were transported to a medical facility and were in good condition, the tweet said.