The Dutch police are investigating the possibility of human trafficking after they found the boy from a compartment in a plane at Maastricht Aachen Airport in Limburg on Thursday.
“For us it is a miracle,” said a spokesman for the Dutch police. “If someone stores himself like this, he usually dies from the cold or lack of oxygen.” said Marvin Engh, a spokesman for the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, one of the country’s national police forces.
The stowaway was taken to a hospital with hypothermia but has since made a full recovery, police said.
He started his journey in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and went from there to Istanbul, Turkey, before moving on to London, Engh said.
The aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 5,791 meters (19,000 feet) and a speed of 460 miles per hour.
The stowaway’s flight had arrived in London from Istanbul earlier on Thursday morning and spent three hours there before departing for Maastricht.
Stansted officials confirmed that the flight on which the stowaway was traveling was operated by the airline, Turkey’s flag carrier.
Police do not know how he hid on his other flights, but a London Stansted airport spokesman told CNN he did not board there. which means it is likely that he boarded THY6305 in Istanbul.
Turkish Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
He applied for asylum and his asylum application is handled by the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Engh said.
A Justice Department spokesman Bart Vis said the INS was unable to comment on individual cases due to privacy laws.
The investigation into human smuggling is a standard procedure and the health and welfare of the child are paramount for the authorities, according to the Dutch police.
CNN’s Rosanne Roobeek contributed to this report.