Body found on wheels of passenger plane flying from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia

Body found on airplane wheels in Saudi Arabia

BEIRUT — The remains of a body were found on the rear wheels of an airplane that landed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh from Beirut, Lebanon’s transportation minister said Saturday.

Minister Ghazi Aridi confirmed that the remains were found on an Airbus 320 jet from the Saudi Nasair company that landed in Riyadh just after midnight with 130 people on board.

The remains were discovered shortly after the plane landed while maintenance was being done.

Aridi said the body has not been identified and no further details were immediately available, pending investigation.

“I have given orders to Lebanese civil aviation authorities to be in contact with their counterparts in Riyadh and Nasair officials to follow up on details of the incident and investigation,” he told The Associated Press.

Aridi declined to give details, but a report by Lebanon’s state-run news agency said earlier that a number of passengers reported seeing a man wearing a cap with a backpack running toward the plane before it took off.

They said he stumbled to the ground, got up and continued heading toward the plane just before it took off. The report said the passengers and crew informed the plane’s pilot about the man but he went ahead with the take off.

The report could not be independently confirmed.