Gardaí investigate toddler death aboard plane

Gardaí confirmed this afternoon they are investigating the death of a toddler on board a flight diverted to Shannon this afternoon.

The two-year-old from Ethiopia was with her family on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to JFK Airport in the US when she took ill.

She was treated by a doctor aboard the plane, and the flight was diverted to Shannon shortly before 3pm.

The child was then pronounced dead by emergency services on the ground.

Her body remained at the scene this afternoon, and was due to be removed to Limerick Regional Hospital for a post mortem.

All 303 passengers left the plane, and the area where the little girl was sitting was sealed off for a technical examination.

Gardaí said they were treating it as a crime scene and intended to quiz the passengers who were sitting near the young girl.

The child's parents were being comforted by officials at the airport.