Congenital bronchoesophageal fistula is a rare anomaly that may cause fatal complications if it goes unnoticed for many years. This anomaly may have various symptoms such as respiratory infections, coughing bouts when eating or drinking and even hemoptysis. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice and is definitive in almost cases. We report a case of type I congenital bronchoesophageal fistula misdiagnosed as chronic empyema thoracis with literature review