27 January 2023 , 20:49
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A game of hide and seek ended in terror for a young boy whose chosen hiding spot saw him accidentally sent on a six-day ocean voyage.
The youngster was shipped from Bangladesh to Malaysia after hiding in a shipping container while playing with friends in the port city of Chittagong.
Once inside and waiting to be found, it's thought the boy, who authorities named only as Fahim, nodded off and didn't realise the container was being packed off overseas until it was too late.
The container embarked on the journey on January 11, arriving in Malaysia's Port Klang on the 17th.
Terrified and without food, the youngster had begun banging on the walls of the container and screaming for help before he was eventually discovered by port staff.
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Fahim was inside the metal cage for six days without food (REDDIT)Footage was shared online of the boy after he was found in the container, by which point he was starving, exhausted and terrified.
The youngster suddenly found himself in an unknown country surrounded by strangers who didn't speak his language, with port authorities at first suspecting he was a trafficking victim.
Malaysian police carried out an investigation to find where Fahim had come from, eventually ruling him out as a victim of organised crime.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told local press: “The boy, known only as ‘Fahim’, was found in one of the containers brought by a ship from Bangladesh.
Fahim was weak and exhausted after six days at sea without any food (REDDIT)"When the ship arrived in Port Klang, the container was unloaded and it was found that there was a child inside.
“We do not draw conclusions on aspects of human trafficking anymore because the initial investigations revealed that the boy had entered inside the container, then fell asleep and later arrived here."
Fahim was sent for medical tests to treat him for possible dehydration and a fever, and was then sent safely home.
“The process for him to be sent home (repatriated) was made according to legal channels,” the country's Home Minister added.