A mother-of-three living in Dubai accidentally killed herself in an airport lounge after swallowing cocaine, a British coroner has ruled. Victoria Buchanan, 42, is reported to have ingested a small bag of drugs after checking in at Manchester airport as she prepared to fly home to Dubai, where she worked as a teacher. Mrs Buchanan, from Kilmarnock in Scotland, is said to have purchased drugs, worth about Dh1,000, for personal use, before visiting an airport lounge where she swallowed a small amount to avoid detection. When the bag split inside her stomach, the woman suffered seizures and later died at Wythenshawe Hospital in south Manchester. Witnesses thought Mrs Buchanan may have been having an allergic reaction to palm oil, so administered adrenalin via an epi pen. The incident occurred on March 29 last year, but inquests into unusual deaths in the UK can take time to resolve. The split bag of drugs was discovered in her stomach during a post-mortem examination. Assistant coroner Andrew Bridge recorded death by misadventure. “Why she took such a risk will never be known but I’m satisfied it was done of her own volition,” he said.
