SELANGOR, MALAYSIA — A Bangladesh kid from Chittagong who was playing hide-and-seek with friends, never expected that he would be trapped inside a shipping container, travel a thousand miles, and land on Malaysian soil.
In a media statement issued today(20 January), Cha Hoong Fong, police chief of South Klang District confirmed that a 45-year-old shipping operator had informed the police that a foreign boy had been discovered in the container at the Westport area of Port Klang on 17 January 9 pm.
A TikToker, presumably working at Port Klang recorded the incident when auxiliary police at the port opened the container and rescued the kid.
The clip shows the kid appeared to be weary and frightened, confused with unfamiliar surroundings:
@al_zach90 Ah sudah!!!!!
In another video posted on Facebook, medical officers are seen attending to the boy on a stretcher. Later he was sent to a hospital for further medical examination.
No evidence of human trafficking
According to the boy, he had entered the container while playing with some friends and ended up getting locked inside unintentionally.
The boy then fell asleep, unaware that he was on board a ship departing from the port. He was on the ship MV Integra that had departed from Chittagong on 12 January and arrived at Klang’s Westport on 17 January.
According to Malay Mail, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Malaysia’s Home Minister said there was no evidence to suggest the involvement of human trafficking syndicates.
“The boy, known only as ‘Fahim’, was found in one of the containers brought by a ship from Bangladesh. When the ship arrived in Port Klang, the container was unloaded and it was found that there was a child inside.”
“The process for him to be sent home (repatriated) was made according to legal channels,” the Home Minister added.
