British broadcaster Sky News has apologised over a story which it claimed to have unraveled the identity of a stowaway who fell from a Kenya Airways plane in London.
This comes hours after the broadcaster pulled down the story from its website early Thursday, November 22.
“Sky News regrets that our reporting was founded on misleading information,” read a statement on the broadcaster’s website.
“In an interview with a Kenyan newspaper (read Daily Nation) that man has now admitted misleading Sky News. Sky News regrets that our reporting was founded on misleading information,” the British broadcaster further explained.
The media house, in a report by its correspondent had identified a 25-year-old man Cedric Shivonje- as Paul Manyasi and had gone ahead to give details about how he fell from the KQ plane on June 30.
The story by Daily Nation investigative team traced Cedric Shivonje to Kamiti Maximum Prison where he is being held for defilement charges after failing to raise KSh 200,000 bail for unrelated case.
Faults in the story emerged a week ago after Isaac Beti who is identified in the story as Isaac Manyasi, Paul’s father denied knowing anyone by the name of Paul Manyasi.
Further Beti said Shivanji left their home village in 2016 and the last time he talked to him was in July 2017.
In a report by Nation published Thursday, November 21, Beti admitted to lying to the Sky News reporter so that villagers could not know about his son’s whereabouts-who he knew very well he was in prison.
Also, Shivonje said although he was the man in the images used in the Sky News report, he has never been a stowaway.
Government agencies led by The Kenya Airports Authority , and cleaning company Colnet have since denied ever having a worker by that name.
Police on Sunday June 30 were called to a residential address in Offerton Road, Clapham, London after a body was discovered in a garden.
A post-mortem examination held on 3 July gave cause of death as multiple injuries.
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