Nigerian drug peddler left to die at airport over Ebola fears

A Nigerian drug smuggler was left to his death at Madrid’s main airport after several bags of cocaine burst in his stomach. He spent 50 minutes without any medical attention as he was deemed an Ebola risk after he started shaking on the floor.

As reported by RT, the man had arrived at Madrid-Barajas airport Terminal 1 on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul when the bags of cocaine apparently burst in his stomach. He quickly succumbed to the symptoms of a cocaine overdose.

However, he was left unattended, shaking on the floor for 50 minutes before he received any help, reported Spanish daily El Mundo.

The incident happened on Saturday, and the man had just made it through customs when he started trembling, according to the newspaper. The airport reportedly sounded the alert, waiting for a medical team with a specialization in infectious diseases.

Specialists apparently found the man “unconscious with a weak pulse and suffering breathing difficulties”. He also reportedly had blood on his right shoulder and around his mouth.

At 6:30 pm the same day he was deemed not to be an Ebola risk and he was subsequently escorted to hospital “without biocontainment measures and isolation,” according to a doctor. However, he died 25 minutes later.

Although the man was a Nigerian traveler, his wife told Spain’s The Local that he had not visited Nigeria in the previous four years.