AN EMERGENCY coroner's inquest into the death of a two-year-old child who died on board a transatlantic jet on Tuesday will take place in Co Clare today.
A postmortem examination of the child's remains was completed late yesterday and it is now understood that the child died of natural causes. In an effort to expedite the family's onward journey to New York, in an unprecedented move, an emergency inquest has been arranged and will take at Ennis Courthouse at 10am today.
The child, from Eritrea in east Africa, was travelling with her parents and other family members on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to New York on Tuesday when she became ill and died suddenly.
The captain declared a medical emergency and sought permission to divert to Shannon airport. However, the child had died before the aircraft landed.
The body was initially removed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick but was transferred to University College Hospital Cork at 8am yesterday where Deputy State Pathologists Dr Margaret Bolster and Dr Michael Curtis conducted a postmortem. That autopsy concluded late yesterday evening.
While the final report into the postmortem has not been made public, it is understood that the child died of "natural causes". It is also believed the child had been in hospital in Eritrea suffering from a chest infection prior to the start of her journey. It is thought her parents discharged her from the hospital so that they could undertake the flight.
Gardaí have concluded interviewing the parents and have taken statements from them. The family of nine was part of a larger group from Eritrea who were been relocated to the US by the International Organisation for Migration.