Doctor: Burned U.K. plotter unlikely to survive

updated 7:13 p.m. ET July 10, 2007

EDINBURGH, Scotland - A man who was engulfed in flames after allegedly crashing a Jeep Cherokee loaded with gas cylinders into Glasgow’s airport is unlikely to survive his severe burns, a doctor who treated him said Tuesday.

Police believe Kafeel Ahmed, 27, was driving the Jeep when it rammed into the airport entrance June 30, shattering the glass doors, and then ignited into a raging fire. Witnesses saw his body in flames after the attack, which came a day after police found two unexploded car bombs in central London.

“The prognosis is not good, and he is not likely to survive,” a member of the medical team that treated him at the Royal Alexandra Hospital near Glasgow said on condition of anonymity because details about patients are not to be made public.

“He has third-degree burns over most of his torso and limbs. It is beyond repair, and because he has lost so much skin, he is now vulnerable to infection and won’t be able to fight it,” the doctor said.

An aeronautical engineer
Prosecutors suspect Bilal Abdullah, a 27-year-old doctor born in Britain and raised in Iraq, and Ahmed, an aeronautical engineer from India, carried out the attempted bombings in London before returning to Scotland — where Abdullah worked at a Glasgow-area hospital — and attacking the airport. Abdullah is so far the only suspect to have been charged.

Ahmed was initially treated at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, where Abdullah worked as a diabetes specialist. He was transferred under sedation to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in the early hours of Monday in an intensive care ambulance.

Ahmed is under constant armed police guard. The medical team member who discussed his condition could not confirm if police had been able to question him.

A spokeswoman for the Greater Glasgow Health Board, speaking on the condition of anonymity according to Scottish government practice, would only say: “The patient remains in police custody, and his condition remains critical.”

A police spokeswoman would not confirm if Ahmed had been questioned. “We are not releasing anything about this person at the moment,” she said.

'A sincere employee'
In Bangalore, India, officials confirmed that Ahmed had worked there as an aeronautical engineer at a company contracted by the biggest names in aviation.

Chris Mcnulty / Pool via Reuters file Police forensic officers examine the burnt wreckage of a Jeep Cherokee at the entrance at Glasgow airport on July 1 after the failed bombing there.

Ahmed worked for Infotech Enterprises, a large outsourcing firm, from December 2005 to August 2006, said the company spokesman K.S. Susindar.

Infotech works with Boeing and Airbus, among others — possibly giving Ahmed access to sensitive design information from the companies.

Susindar declined to comment on whether Ahmed had access to design secrets or what projects he worked on.

“He was a sincere employee and from what I can gather, he gave no problems whatsoever,” Susindar said.

The services Infotech offered its clients was not immediately clear, but most of the aviation work outsourced to Indian companies includes software support for cabin lighting, display of information in the cockpit, in-flight entertainment and communication.

In some cases, it could involve designing software for flight control systems, navigation and surveillance.

A spokeswoman for Boeing declined to comment. Calls to aircraft engine makers Pratt & Whitney were not immediately returned, nor were calls to Airbus.

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