April 7, 2009 - 6:20AM
Amazing what lengths people will go to in the attempt for a better life.An Afghan youth survived a 30-hour journey from Athens strapped underneath a bus, only to discover that he had arrived in Poland and not his chosen destination Italy, border guards said on Monday.
"The man, aged 19 years old, was hidden near the gearbox, attached with a belt," Elzbieta Pikor, spokesman for the Polish border guard, told AFP. Polish transport mechanics had discovered him as they were checking the bus.
"Italia?" the young man asked as he emerged from his hiding place after the 2,800km journey.
In fact, he had arrived in Nowa Deba, southern Poland, having picked the wrong bus, another from the same line having left Athens for Italy.
"He was exhausted, frozen and starving, but in good health," said Pikor.
The would-be immigrant had travelled through Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia along the way, the gear cable scratching his face every time the bus changed gears.
He was carrying no papers and gave his name only as Yahiya, saying he was from the Afghan capital Kabul.
He will be kept in a Polish detention centre pending a decision on his request for refugee status.
3 comments:
Who does he think he is? MacGyver?
I thought of Sideshow Bob who was under the Simpsons car in a similar manner only to have Homer drive through a Cactus patch, over speed humps and pour hot coffee out the car window.
Just so long as he uses his power fod Good, not Evil :P
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