The United Nations said on Wednesday that 17 bodies had been recovered from the site of the late Sudanese southern rebel John Garang’s helicopter crash — three more than originally reported.
”The last figure that I saw in our report was 17,” said Radhia Achouri, a spokesperson for UN special envoy for Sudan Jan Pronk.
Garang died on July 30 when a Ugandan presidential helicopter crashed on its way to south Sudan from Uganda.
Initial reports released by officials in Kampala said there were 14 people on board, including the Ugandan crew of seven.
The Ugandan interior minister later announced that an unknown body had also been found at the crash site.
Achouri said she did not know who retrieved the additional bodies, but suggested it could be soldiers from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, the armed wing of the movement Garang headed.
”They are the ones who got the [first] bodies out,” she said.
Achouri added that the United Nations also had military observers deployed in the area.
Sudan has formed a national committee to investigate the crash.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has suggested that the crash, initially blamed on bad weather in the mountainous region of south Sudan, may not have been an accident, triggering angry reactions from the Sudanese authorities. – Sapa-AFP