Excess baggage: 6ft-tall stowaway found in suitcase by Swiss border guards (VIDEO)

7 Jul, 2016 13:01 / Updated 8 years ago

A very tall man from Eritrea has been discovered alive and well inside a suitcase by Swiss border control. The 21 year old was attempting to enter Switzerland from Italy using some very impressive contortionist skills.

“It was not hard to know there was a person inside, given the weight and the movement of it,” Mirco Ricci, a spokesman for Swiss border control, told Swiss broadcaster RSI. The roomy suitcase managed to contain the man on his travels from Milan to the Swiss town of Ticino, a journey of more than three hours by train.

He was eventually discovered by border control who placed the suitcase on the platform for shocked onlookers to watch as the man emerged.

Swiss border control has apprehended 3,400 people trying to enter the country since May 30. Ricci said: “We’ve had people try to sneak in in a car trunk. This is the first time we’ve seen in Ticino that we’ve found someone in a bag.”

The man, who did not have documents to enter Switzerland, opted not to request asylum. He was sent back to Italy with his travel companion.

Given his impressive skills he should be able to find plenty of work at a circus or maybe as a replacement for ‘The Amazing Yen’ in Ocean's Eleven.