Afghan baby aboard evacuation flight dies after landing in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — A 9-month-old girl from Afghanistan who was a passenger on an evacuation flight died soon after the plane landed in Philadelphia on Wednesday night, authorities said.

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According to Custom and Border Protection officials, the baby suffered a medical emergency during the flight, WPVI reported. By the time the plane landed at 9:16 p.m. EDT at Philadelphia International Airport, the child was unresponsive, according to the television station. She was pronounced dead at 10:10 p.m. after she was taken to an area hospital, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The girl and her family came to the U.S. from Ramstein Air Base in Germany after being evacuated from Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Chris Mitchell, a Defense Department spokesperson, told ABC News.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the parents and family,” Mitchell told the network.

It is the first known death of an evacuee during the airlift from Kabul, the Inquirer reported. Since Saturday, 3,654 people have arrived in Philadelphia on evacuation flights, according to the newspaper.

The child was among the second wave of Afghan refugees on flights that landed in Philadelphia, according to WCAU.

Officials did not elaborate on the nature of the child’s medical emergency. A cause of death has not been revealed, and both police and the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating, WCAU reported.

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