Fahim, a 15-year-old boy, was found 2,300 miles away in Malaysia six days later.
TwitterOnlookers watch and record Fahim’s rescue from the shipping container.
During a game of hide-and-seek in Chittagong, Bangladesh, a 15-year-old boy named Fahim found what he thought was the perfect hiding spot: a shipping container. He climbed in, hoping that his friends would never find him. While he was waiting, he fell asleep — and when he woke up, he was locked inside.
Fahim spent the next six days inside the container without food or water. And when he finally emerged, he was 2,300 miles from home in West Port, Malaysia.
On Jan. 17, 2023, staff at Malaysia’s Port Klang reportedly heard knocking and shouting coming from inside one of the shipping containers that had recently arrived from Bangladesh. They contacted emergency services before opening it, and everyone was dumbfounded when a young, emaciated boy walked out of the box.
A video posted on Twitter captured Fahim’s rescue:
WATCH: #BNNMalaysia Reports.
A #Bangladeshi teenager, identified as Fahim accidentally travelled over 3,000 kilometers to Port Klang, #Malaysia over six days without food and water, in a shipping container after hiding inside it while playing with friends. #Social pic.twitter.com/NRlrKVDQTL
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) January 28, 2023
In the footage, Fahim appears dazed and disoriented, and he cries out to onlookers for food. He was eventually given something to eat and told to sit down while medical personnel examined him.
According to the India Times, the boy did not speak the local language, and attempts to question him about his ordeal were largely unsuccessful.
The young boy was recorded trying to communicate with medics before he was placed on a stretcher and transported to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital.
Immediately following Fahim’s rescue, authorities were quick to suspect that the boy may have been a victim of human trafficking. Fortunately, Malaysian authorities were able to conclude that nothing sinister or criminal had taken place after learning that Fahim had simply climbed into the container while playing hide-and-seek.
Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told BERNAMA, the Malaysian National News Agency, “The boy was just believed to have entered the container, fell asleep, and found himself here.” He went on to explain, “The relevant authorities have investigated the case and their investigation found no elements of human trafficking.”
TwitterFahim eats for the first time in six days following his rescue.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Cha Hoong Fong concurred, stating that “there was no foul play in the incident.”
Despite the fact that he was dehydrated and feverish, Fahim was reportedly in stable condition at the hospital. Authorities and doctors are stunned that the boy managed to survive for six days without water.
This story comes less than a year after another young Bangladeshi man was found in a shipping container in October 2022. Unfortunately, the man was deceased at the time of his discovery in Malaysia. Mainul Haque Chowdhury, the shipping agent of the vessel, stated to Prothom Alo, a Bangladeshi news outlet, that the incident “could be a case of human trafficking as similar incidents have occurred before.”
Thankfully, Fahim’s story ended much differently. The boy was handed over to Malaysian immigration authorities and will begin his journey back home to Bangladesh once he has fully recovered from his six-day ordeal.
After reading about the boy who ended up in another country while playing hide-and-seek, discover 11 incredible survival stories from around the world. Or, read about how Juliane Koepcke lived through a plane crash and 11 days in the jungle.
