Afghan woman gives birth on evacuation flight to Britain

An Afghan woman on board an evacuation flight to Britain gave birth to a baby girl early on Saturday with assistance from the cabin crew, Turkish Airlines said in a statement.

Soman Noori, 26, started having contractions during the Turkish Airlines flight from Dubai to Birmingham, and gave birth as the plane flew at an altitude of 10,000 metres in Kuwaiti airspace, Reuters reported.

Noori and her baby, who was named Havva, were both in good health, the statement said.

The plane, which was carrying Afghan citizens who had worked with Britain in Afghanistan, landed in Kuwait as a precaution but later continued on to its destination, Turkish Airlines said.

This is the second Afghan woman to give birth during the evacuation process from Afghanistan.

The first woman was an Afghan mother who gave birth moments after landing in Germany on 21 August.

The US Air Mobility Command said in a series of tweets later that “medical support personnel from the 86th Medical Group helped an Afghan mother and family off a U.S. Air Force C-17 moments after she delivered a child aboard the aircraft upon landing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Aug. 21.”

“The baby girl and mother were transported to a nearby medical facility and are in good condition.”