Govt releases SA cash, corpse

News
The government has released the United States cargo plane which was being held at the Harare International Airport since February 14 after a post-mortem on a dead body discovered inside it concluded that there was no foul play.

The government has released the United States cargo plane which was being held at the Harare International Airport since February 14 after a post-mortem on a dead body discovered inside it concluded that there was no foul play.

SILENCE CHARUMBIRA

Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said the Western Global Airlines- owned plane, together with the body, was released yesterday morning.

“The body of the deceased was discovered on the plane and a post-mortem was conducted at Parirenyatwa hospital,” she said.

“There were no external, internal injuries, no fracture and foreign bodies on the body.

“The pathologists opined that the cause of death was asphyxia secondary to oxygen absence.”

Charamba said the plane’s itinerary showed that its original departure place was Liege Belgium on February 11 and it made a stopover in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on the same day before proceeding to Abuja, Nigeria, the following day.

On February 13 it reportedly flew to Entebbe, Uganda, before going back to Liege on the same day and later Munich, Germany, where it picked up its consignment of 67 tonnes of South African rands bank notes meant for the Reserve Bank of South Africa.

Charamba said the plane failed to land at King Tshaka Airport in Durban as the crew were failing to contact their company.

She said the body and cargo were released to the crew after it was established that there was nothing suspicious.

Charamba added nothing obliged Zimbabwe to be responsible for the burial, cremation or any other form of disposal of the body.

Owing to the secrecy with which the matter was being handled, several theories had arisen with regard to the plane, with some suggesting that the cargo was not owned by the South African government, while some said the body was meant to be dumped in Zimbabwe.