KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – An Afghan refugee family now living in Kalamazoo, who escaped just before the Taliban takeover last August, had to leave without its youngest member.
Sohail Ahmadi, a 2-month old boy, got lost in the chaos at the airport.
“After a frantic but futile search for the infant, his father and mother, along with their four other children, were put on an evacuation flight to the U.S.,” Superintendent Rita Raichoudhuri said.
Raichoudhuri says the fate of the infant was a mystery for four months. He was found when the taxi driver who rescued the boy and took him into his care came forward, having heard news reports about the missing child.
“Once Sohail’s whereabouts were confirmed, the baby’s grandfather, who lives in a northeastern province, made a long journey to Kabul to ask for the child to be returned,” Raichoudhuri said.
Last week, the boy was returned to relatives in Afghanistan. Efforts are being made to reunite him with his family in Kalamazoo.
“We are looking forward to welcoming Sohail as one of our future KPS students in a few years,” Raichoudhuri said. “His four siblings are already enrolled with us.”
The taxi driver was initially reluctant to give up the boy, and only agreed to do so after he was detained by the police after seven weeks of failed negotiations.
— Copy written by John McNeil. —
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