Zimbabwe releases US cargo plane, with mysterious dead man

Zimbabwe releases US cargo plane, with mysterious dead man

Saturday, February 20, 2016 7:09 pm


the MD 11 trijet cargo plane seized in Harare. Photo: Zimbabwe Herald

the MD 11 trijet cargo plane seized in Harare. Photo: Zimbabwe Herald

After investigation by police authorities, Zimbabwe freed Saturday a U.S.-registered cargo plane it impounded on Sunday after finding the body of a man dripping with blood inside the plane loaded with South African rand.

The plane owned by Western Global Airlines, was released along with the dead man, yet to be identified. The plane had landed in Harare International Airport, after failing to land in Durban, South Africa.

The man was suspected to be a stowaway and the autopsy done by Zimbabwe suggested the cause of death was lack of oxygen.

National police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told reporters that the MD11 cargo plane, owned by Florida-based Western Global Airlines, its crew, the man’s body and cash belonging to South Africa’s central bank had left for South Africa.

Questions still remain about the origins of the man. The cargo plane had for three days travelled from Belgium to Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Uganda and Germany, after which it landed in Harare.

Charamba said a pathologist had found no internal or external injuries on the body.

“The cargo has been released to the crew after it was established that there is nothing suspicious. Nothing from the international law obliges Zimbabwe to be responsible for the burial, cremation or any disposal of the body,” said Charamba.


Join The Conversation

What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.