Man found asleep on Rome airport luggage belt

Published on 10/08/2012 00:20

AIRPORT officials might be braced for coming across all sorts of unusual items in luggage, but baggage handlers monitoring luggage for loading at Fiumicino Airport in Rome were surprised to see the outline of a human on their X-ray screens.

A 36-year-old Norwegian national was found fast asleep in the loading bay, after spending an estimated 15 minutes on the luggage carousel in Terminal 3.

According to police, the man, who was believed to have been drinking heavily, was travelling to Oslo, and had put his bag on an unattended luggage belt before falling asleep on the main belt which carries baggage that has been checked in. The man started his journey through the terminal when the belt was turned on by a worker in another part of the airport, going through the powerful X-ray scanners - whilst still fast asleep.

Police added that the man would not have been able to access any restricted areas of the airport due to a security system implemented after a similar incident around ten years ago.

The man was believed to be facing charges, as well as health checks, following his brief trip.