SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A Somali immigrant who survived
an arduous flight to Hawaii stowed away in a jet’s wheel well says he
was trying to reach his mom, a refugee in Ethiopia who says her teenage
son broke down in tears this week during their first call since his
ordeal.
Mother Ubah Mohammed Abdule, who is seeking U.S. asylum,
told The Associated Press Wednesday her son, who she hasn’t seen in
eight years, cried on the phone Tuesday and told her he thought she was
dead.
"He says, ‘Mom you are not dead for sure? I thought you died
in a boat trip. This is incredible news.’ Then he became silent for a
moment. Then he cried," she said.
Yahya Abdi, 15, said Tuesday
that he ran away from his Santa Clara home, hopped a fence at Mineta San
Jose International Airport in April and climbed aboard the Hawaiian
Airlines plane because it was the first flight he could find heading
west, and he wanted to go see his mother. Yahya, who described crouching
in the wheel well and covering his ears at take-off, made his first
public comments during a Google Chat on Tuesday to KPIX-5 (http://cbsloc.al/1lCIvg4 ).
"It was above the clouds, I could see through the little holes," Yahya said, who gave short,
stilted answers.
When asked if he can believe he survived the trip, Yahya paused several seconds: "Uh, no." But
he also said he wasn’t scared.
Yahya
survived the flight at 35,000 feet despite low oxygen and freezing
temperatures. Video footage from the Maui airport shows him dropping to
the tarmac about an hour after the jet landed.
The teen said he
made the decision to get on board the plane because he didn’t want to
live with his stepmom and wanted to find his mother, who he hasn’t seen
since he was seven years old.
Yahya is staying at a temporary
foster home. He will be a junior in high school this fall and plans to
live with his aunt in the Minneapolis area.
Yahya has been
spending his days doing normal teenage things. "I’ve been going to the
movie theater and playing video games," he told KPIX-5.
Earlier
this year, police said they were investigating possible criminal charges
against the boy for climbing the airport fence, and that the teen was
being cared for by child protective services.
The Santa Clara
County Office of the Public Defender confirms it has been appointed to
"advise and assist" the boy, but could not say in what capacity due to
juvenile privacy rules.
A family spokeswoman forwarded questions
on Wednesday from AP to father Abdilahi Yusuf, a Santa Clara taxi
driver, about why his son is not living with him. As with past requests,
Yusuf has not responded. The spokeswoman, Zahra Billoo with the Council
on American-Islamic Relations, says the family wants to maintain their
privacy.
—
Associated Press reporter Abdi Guled contributed to this story from Mogadishu, Somalia.