A stowaway has plunged to his death from a plane and landed on a business in a busy high street - while another is fighting for his life in hospital.
The two men are believed to have clung on to a British Airways plane as it flew more than 8,000 miles (12,875km) from Johannesburg in South Africa to Heathrow.
The victim fell on to the roof of the business NotOnTheHighStreet.com in Kew Road, Richmond, south west London, yesterday morning.
Police and ambulance crews found the man dead at the scene at around 9.30am.
It is understood the second man, believed to be 24 years old, was found unconscious in the undercarriage of the plane at Heathrow around an hour earlier.
He was taken to a west London hospital where police said he is in a critical condition.
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 tonight."
Hady Khoshkbary, who runs a printing shop next door, said he spotted police cars and ambulances outside yesterday morning 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."
The Metropolitan Police said officers are investigating the death and whether the dead man is a stowaway.
They said: "The body is so far unidentified and inquiries 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 inquiry into identifying the deceased and the circumstances of his death.
"The death is currently being treated as unexplained. A post-mortem examination will be held in due course."
The second man was rushed to hospital where he was in a serious condition, but police said this has now deteriorated and he is "critical".
Heathrow officers believe they know the man's identity, but are waiting for confirmation before releasing any details of his nationality.
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."
NotOnTheHighStreet.com said in a statement: "The death is currently being treated as unexplained but early indications are that the body may be that of an airline stowaway."
While rare, there have been other cases when stowaways have plunged to their deaths in the leafy streets of 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, west London – a 10 minute drive away from this latest incident.
An inquest into his death heard 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.