Qatari sheik causes scene at Naia after trying to jump from ledge
‘SUICIDAL SHEIK’ The passport of Saud Salman Al-Thani, who tried twice to commit suicide at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A QATARI national who, according to his passport was a sheik and a member of his country’s ruling family, twice tried to kill himself by jumping from the departure ramp at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1 on Thursday.
According to Naia Terminal 1 security guard Roderick Agustin, he initially noticed the 28-year-old Saud Salman Al-Thani, who was wild-eyed and jittery, loitering around the east side of the departure area ramp around 10 a.m. Thursday.
“He looked weak and sad and said he had been staying here for three days because he wanted to go home to Qatar,” Agustin told the Inquirer.
He added that he offered the foreigner some noodles but the latter refused, claiming he had no appetite. Agustin said he later lent Al-Thani his cell phone after the latter told him he wanted to call his sibling in Qatar.
“I could not understand what he was saying because he was speaking in a different language,” the guard said, adding, “He thanked me after he finished the call. I left him resting at the departure area to continue [making] my rounds,” Agustin told the Inquirer.
He said that as he was walking away, the Qatari national suddenly asked if he could borrow his service firearm so that he could kill himself. “I laughed, thinking he was joking and said I couldn’t do that before I [left] him,” Agustin added.
The guard recalled that after a while, his cell phone rang and the person at the other end identified himself as Al-Thani’s sibling. “The caller asked me to watch over his brother who was high on drugs,” he said.
Agustin said he immediately searched for Al-Thani and found him walking toward a ledge with a 20-foot drop, prompting him to seek help from the Airport Police Department (APD). They ran after the Qatari national who threatened to jump off if anyone came near him.
APD manager Neri Ilagan, however, managed to convince the foreigner to step away from the ledge after nearly an hour of negotiations.
Ilagan said that the Qatari national often changed his response when they asked him why he wanted to kill himself, leading them to believe he was high on drugs.
Initially, Al-Thani said he wanted to buy a plane ticket home because some men were after him. He also claimed that there was a murder case against him.
As airport security personnel were about to transport Al-Thani to the Aviation Security Group-National Capital Region (Avsegroup-NCR) office so he could speak with Qatari Embassy representatives, he shoved his APD escort away and made a run for another ledge, this time with a 30-foot drop.
APD and Avsegroup-NCR personnel chased him, tackling him before he could reach the ledge. It took at least five of them to subdue him before he was turned over to Qatar Embassy officials.
According to his passport, Al-Thani arrived in the country on Dec. 31 and was given a visa valid until Jan. 30. It was not immediately known how he was related to the current Emir of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.
