Escaped Congo traveler recaptured

MANILA, Philippines — A Congolese passenger was recaptured yesterday, two days after escaping from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3).

Basaga Tshapa Guimick, who arrived from Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight at past 6 p.m. on June 18, was denied entry due to his behavior while being questioned by immigration officers, who saw him as potentially being a public charge.

NAIA-3 immigration supervisor Elsie Lucero said Guimick was turned over to airline security and placed in the exclusion room. He was supposed to board the next available flight back to Addis Ababa when he was declared missing following a headcount conducted by immigration officers.

Closed-circuit television footage showed Guimick walked through the gates near the immigration counters just as immigration officers tended to hundreds of arriving passengers.

Guimick was arrested by personnel of the BI’s Border Control and Intelligence Unit after he was seen roaming near the pass control office at the NAIA Terminal 1.