india

Updated: Jul 25, 2019 13:47 IST

A six-month-old infant, who was suffering from a heart ailment, died on board a flight from Patna to Delhi early on Thursday, officials said.

The child was being accompanied by her parents as they were flying down for medical treatment to the national capital.

Deputy commissioner of police (Delhi airport) Sanjay Bhatia said they received information that the baby girl had died onboard SpiceJet flight SG 8481.

“Our teams reached the airport and found that the child, a native of Begusarai in Bihar, was suffering from congenital heart disease. She had a small hole in her heart and she was undergoing treatment at AIIMS, New Delhi,” Bhatia said.

“The child’s parents, who were accompanying her, have suspected no foul play,” he added.

SpiceJet said in a statement that the crew of the Patna-Delhi flight requested a priority landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport because of the medical emergency on board.

“Doctors on board attended the child. Priority landing was approved, aircraft landed safely and as requested medical facilities were made available on arrival. On arrival, the doctor declared the infant dead,” the airlines said in the statement.

“No prior information of the child’s medical condition was provided to the airline before travel,” it said.