An e-fit image has been released by police of a man who died on board an aircraft to the UK, as they try to identify the victim.
His body was discovered in the undercarriage of the plane which landed at Gatwick Airport at around 4am on 7 December from The Gambia.
He is believed to be aged in his 20s or 30s and information has been shared with authorities in the west African country.
The Tui flight had been inbound from Banjul after taking off shortly before 10pm local time.
Officers are investigating the case in order to formally identify the man, and are working in partnership with the High Commissioner for Gambia, Interpol, and HM Coroner.
Detective Inspector Darren Lillywhite, of Sussex Police, said: “This was a tragic case, and we are working to establish the identity of the man found deceased.
“Somewhere, this man will have relatives or loved ones who do not know what has happened to him.”
Detectives are hoping to identify the man for an inquest which may provide answers for his loved ones.
Mr Lillywhite added: “In particular, we are seeking contact from anyone in the UK that may have been expecting to meet a friend or family member who failed to arrive in December, as well as anyone in The Gambia or neighbouring countries who may have knowledge about an individual who made travel plans to come to the UK or Europe.”
Anyone who recognises him is asked to contact Sussex Police.
Extra-terrestrial water has been discovered for the first time in a meteorite that landed in the UK.
The meteorite crashed into a driveway in the Gloucestershire town of Winchcombe last February and is believed to hold clues about where the water in the Earth’s vast oceans came from.
Some 12% of the sample was made up of water, and offers a lot of insights since it was the least contaminated specimen to be collected, according to Ashley King, a researcher in the planetary materials group at the Natural History Museum.
“The composition of that water is very, very similar to the composition of water in the Earth’s oceans,” he told the British Science Festival.
“It’s a really good piece of evidence that asteroids and bodies like Winchcombe made a very important contribution to the Earth’s oceans.”
Dr King also confirmed that it was the first time a meteorite containing extra-terrestrial water – albeit locked up in minerals – had fallen in the UK, in the historic Cotswold town.
He explained that because the 1lb (0.5kg) meteorite was retrieved quickly, within around 12 hours, it was not contaminated by water and materials on Earth.
He continued: “We always try and match the composition of the water meteorites and other extra-terrestrial materials to the composition of the water on the Earth.
“For most meteorites, the challenge we have is that they are just contaminated, whereas with Winchcombe we really know that it really hasn’t been contaminated, so it’s good evidence.”
Image: Fragments from the meteorite which landed in Winchcombe last year
Dr King went on: “One of the big questions we have in planetary sciences is where did the water on Earth come from? And one of the obvious places is either through comets that have loads and loads of ice in them, or asteroids.
“There’s always a debate – were comets the main source, were asteroids the main source?”
But he explained that data from missions to comets suggest they are not a good match for the water on earth, adding: “The composition of the water in Winchcombe is a much better match, so that would imply that asteroids – carbonaceous asteroids – were probably the main source of water to the inner solar system, to the Earth.”
Read more: ‘Brilliant fireball’ that lit up the night sky over parts of Britain was space debris, experts say
Dr King continued: “We’ve had a hint that some asteroids match back nicely to the Earth.
“But now we have a meteorite which is really fresh that we know hasn’t been modified, and it’s confirming that same story.”
Speaking at De Montfort University, which is hosting the festival, Dr King revealed that analysis suggests that the meteorite derived from an asteroid somewhere near Jupiter.
It is believed to have been formed around 4.6 billion years ago and has taken some 300,000 years to reach Earth.
As it stands, there are approximately 65,000 known meteorites on Earth.
The meteorite found in Winchcombe is the first known carbonaceous chondrite to have been found in the UK, and the first to be recovered across the country in 30 years.
