Two unidentified persons claiming to be family members of Malala Yousafzai mysteriously turned up at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth hospital where she is being treated saying they wished to see her.
The security staff got suspicious and turned them away. They were reportedly not allowed to go beyond the reception area. Police questioned and recorded their personal details.
The police insisted that at “no point’’ was there a threat to Ms. Yousafzai security and denied local media reports that anyone was arrested.
“Two well-wishers arrived at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham overnight wishing to see Malala Yousafzai. They were stopped in a public area of the hospital and questioned by police, who recorded their details and advised the pair that they would not be allowed to see her. No arrests were made and at no point was there any threat to Malala,’’ said the police. The hospital also tried to play down the incident saying the visitors in question did not get inside the hospital.
Dr Dave Rosser, medical director, said they “didn’t get very far’’ and he did not believe there was a threat to her safety. “Clearly, it is a police issue but I understand that a number of people turned up claiming to be members of Malala’s family, which we don’t believe to be true. We don’t believe there is any threat to her personal security — we think it’s probably people being over-curious,” he said.
He described the incident as “irritating’’ but said the hospital and its partners were “comfortable with security arrangements”.
Meanwhile doctors said she was not out of the woods’’ yet. “There's a long way to go and she is not out of the woods yet... but at this stage we’re optimistic that things are going in the right direction,” said Dr Rosser who is leading a team of specialists treating her.
