Playtime cut short for Bangladeshi boy, accidentally shipped to M’sia and rescued from container

AHMAD ISMADI ISMAIL
AHMAD ISMADI ISMAIL
20 Jan 2023 11:22am
A screenshot of the viral video displaying a foreign child found in a container at the West Port, Port Klang on Tuesday.
A screenshot of the viral video displaying a foreign child found in a container at the West Port, Port Klang on Tuesday.
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KLANG - A Bangladeshi boy playing with his friends was accidentally locked in a container before being found at the West Port, here, on Tuesday.

South Klang District Police Chief Assistant Commissioner Cha Hoong Fong said there were no criminal elements regarding the incident.

"The victim explained that while playing with his friends in Bangladesh, he went into the container and was locked in.

"We referred the case towards the Malaysian Immigration Department to manage the victim's documents as well as sending him back on the same cargo ship," he said in a statement on Friday.

Cha said he had received the report of the foreign child found in a container at the West Port, here, on Tuesday.

"We received the report from a 43-year-old shipping operations worker at 1.53pm on Wednesday," he said.

He said in an incident at 9pm on Tuesday, the complainant was managing the entry of ships in the West Harbour Pier as well as container inspections when he found a foreign child in a weakened state.

"The child was found without any identifications. Further investigations found the ship had sailed from Chittagong, Bangladesh on Jan 12, carrying containers with general merchandise and arrived on the West Port on Tuesday," he said.

He said the victim had illegally entered the container of the ship when it was docked in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

"Treatments were given to the victim at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) in Klang and doctors confirmed he was in a stable condition," he said.

The video of the child being discovered was circulated on Thursday.

He was reported to have been in the container for six days.

The 56-second video displayed the child in a weakened condition coming out of the container as the doors were opened by the authorities at the port.

Sources said a staff heard the sounds of knocking from the container before finding the child.