The coach of the Gambian team in the on going African cup of Nations (AFCON) Tom Saintfiet has narrated a chilling story of how the team came within half an hour of death after their flight to Cote D’Ivoire was forced to land due to lack of oxygen on Wednesday.
The team and official were on a flight from the capital city of Banjul heading for the Ivory Coast for the tournament, which was due to take two and a half hours.
Several players passed out shortly after boarding the plane, with the pilot forced to return the to Banjul Airport just nine minutes after taking off.
Saintfiet, a Belgian coach who has managed Gambia since 2018, believes everyone on the flight could have died from carbon monoxide poisoning had the pilot not returned to the airport.
‘We could all have been dead,’ Saintfiet told the Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad.
