A stowaway is thought to have survived an 8,000-mile flight clinging to a British Airways plane, only to plunge to his death on to offices in Richmond.

Another man suspected of being a stowaway is in hospital after surviving the flight.

The two men are believed to have clung to a BA plane as it flew from Johannesburg in South Africa to Heathrow.

The victim fell on to the roof of the business NotOnTheHighStreet.com in Kew Road.

Police and an ambulance were called and found the man dead at the scene yesterday morning.

It is understood the second man, aged 24, was found unconscious in the undercarriage of a plane at Heathrow around an hour earlier. His condition in hospital is described as critical.

Police are investigating who the men are and exactly what happened.

The Met Police said: “The body is so far unidentified and enquiries are ongoing into this and how long it had been at the scene. No next of kin have yet been informed.

“At this time there is no evidence to link the death to the discovery of a stowaway in the undercarriage of a plane at Heathrow Airport; however this is one line of enquiry into identifying the deceased and the circumstances of his death.

“The death is currently being treated as unexplained.”

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Reverend Neil Summers, from the St John the Divine of Richmond church opposite where the body was found, said he was "shocked" and would lead prayers for the dead man.

He said: "It's shocking, you do not expect these things to happen on your patch, really.

"In one sense it's not totally surprising as it's happened before.

"It's very shocking when it's so close to you.

"We are going to say prayers for the people concerned."

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NotOnTheHighStreet.com said in a statement: "Officers and the London ambulance service attended and found the body of a male on the roof of the premises.

"The death is currently being treated as unexplained but early indications are that the body may be that of an airline stowaway."

A British Airways spokeswoman said: "We are working with the Metropolitan Police and the authorities in Johannesburg to establish the facts surrounding this very rare case."

Hady Khoshkbary, who runs a printing shop next door, said he spotted police cars and ambulances outside and went out to discover what had happened.

He said: "We were very lucky that the body did not drop on the road, it dropped on the building.

"We were very, very lucky that we did not see the body. Already this is a tragedy but that would have been horrific to see this incident."

There have been other cases when stowaways have plunged to their deaths in west London after smuggling themselves on to planes.

They hide themselves in the landing gear where they are exposed to the elements and have to endure plummeting temperatures. Most are killed by the cold and lack of oxygen at high altitudes.

In September 2012, Jose Matada, 26, died after falling from the undercarriage of a Heathrow-bound flight from Angola on to a quiet street in Mortlake.

An inquest into his death heard that the young man from Mozambique is believed to have survived freezing temperatures of up to minus 60C (minus 76F) for most of the 12-hour flight.

But it was believed he was "dead or nearly dead" by the time he hit the ground.