German fled Suvarnabhumi airport as Australian police escort slept

27 May 2013, Bangkokpost - A man being taken back to Germany to face charges after completing a jail sentence in Australia fled from a transit lounge at Suvarnabhumi airport through a fire exit while his Australian police escort was asleep, Thai authorities said on Monday.

Thai police have placed a 10,000 baht bounty on Carlo Konstantin Kohl. (Photo courtesy of Royal Thai Police)

Airports of Thailand (AoT) chairman Sita Divari confirmed after talks with Immigration Bureau police on Monday morning that the man - the accused leader of a gang thieves in Germany - escaped from custody and disappeared into greater Bangkok after arriving on May 15 on a Thai Airways International flight from Australia.

A preliminary investigation found that the suspect left the airport building through an emergency exit in the transit area, he said. The electricity to the door was disconnected, he added.

The fugitive was later identified as Carlo Konstantin Kohl by Pol Maj Gen Suvitchpol Imjairat, chief of the Immigration Bureau, after a meeting at Suvarnabhumi airport several hours hours later.

Pol Maj Gen Suvitchpol said Kohl illegally left the airport after managing to bypass immigration.

The Australian police accompanying him had gone to sleep in a transit room at the airport after arriving on May 15. Their connecting flight to Germany had been delayed. When they awoke, they discovered he was no longer in their custody, he said.

It remains unclear whether Mr Kohl fled on the night of May 15 or the early hours of May 16.

Mr Kohl was being taken from Brisbane to Frankfurt via Bangkok on Thai Airways International flights.

The flight from Brisbane arrived at Suvarnabhumi about 8pm on May 15. The connecting flight was supposed to leave for Germany at 11pm, but was delayed because of bad weather in Europe and rescheduled for 8am on May 16.

Kohl's Australian police escort went to sleep in the transit lounge.

‘’Mr Kohl has left the airport. He did not pass through the immigration desks,’’ the immigration police chief said.

‘’He faces a charge of illegally entering the country and investigators of the Immigration Bureau are trying to locate him.’'

He said Thai authorities should not be blamed for the fugitive's escape. Australian police had not alerted Thai immigration authorities that they were escorting a prisoner through Suvarnabhumi airport en route to Europe.

Pol Maj Gen Suvitchpol said the German had completed a jail term in Australia and, under Australian law, he was being accompanied by Australian authorities back to his country to face outstanding charges there.

http://bangkokpost.com/news/local/352048/australia-police-escort-slept-as-german-fugitive-escaped-at-suvarnabhumi-airport