British passenger dies after severe turbulence on London-Singapore flight

A British passenger has died and seven people have been critically injured after a flight from London to Singapore was hit by turbulence.

Kitchen, 73, and his wife were on their way to a holiday in Australia via Singapore, neighbours told the Guardian. According to Thai authorities, he had a heart condition and probably had a heart attack.

At a press conference, Kittipong Kittikachorn, the general manager of Airports of Thailand confirmed that one person had died and that seven were in a critical condition, mostly with head injuries. Twenty-three passengers, plus one crew member, had less severe injuries, he said.

Thai immigration police said medical personnel had boarded the plane to assess injuries, and uninjured passengers had disembarked.

Singapore Airlines later confirmed the nationalities of the passengers onboard as 56 from Australia, two from Canada, one from Germany, three from India, two from Indonesia, one from Iceland, four from Ireland, one from Israel, 16 from Malaysia, two from Myanmar, 23 from New Zealand, five from the Philippines, 41 from Singapore, one from South Korea, two from Spain, 47 from the United Kingdom and four from the US.

Passengers were being kept in a special part of Suvarnabhumi airport and given dinner, before a new Thai Airways flight carrying on those able to travel was expected to take off for Singapore later on Tuesday evening.

Singapore Airlines said it was working with relevant authorities on the investigation into the incident. The airline has not suffered any major incidents in recent years.

Weather conditions in the region have been associated with turbulence in the past. Two crew onboard a British Airways flight returning from Singapore to London in June 2023 sustained broken legs after being thrown around the cabin during severe turbulence over the Bay of Bengal.