Pilot, wife on doomed flight
30/04/2006 21:53 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Two South Africans were on board a plane missing since Friday in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the department of foreign affairs said on Sunday night.
"Indeed, two South Africans were in the ill-fated plane," spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said after earlier having reported that there were no South Africans on board.
They were the pilot and his wife.
A third passenger, believed to be a French or Canadian citizen, was also on board.
On Sunday there were conflicting reports about the whether the wreckage of the plane, a single-engine Caravan, had been found.
"It has not been found," said Mamoepa.
"However, part of a wreckage has been found, resembling an ill-fated plane and investigations are under way."
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) had chartered the aircraft to fly from Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to Bunia, further north.
The wreckage of a plane had been found in the fabled Mountains of the Moon, also known as the Rwenzori massif, which is between the two towns and shared by the DRC and Uganda.
"The Caravan was operated by King Air Charter Services, based in South Africa, and King Air Charter Services said the wreckage was located at an altitude of 3 600m on Margherita Peak, which is the third highest summit in Africa," read a WFP release on Sunday.
"A UN helicopter twice tried today to land near the wreckage, which is just inside Ugandan territory.
"It was unable to do so and King Air Charter Services said efforts were underway to try and reach the wreckage from Uganda but the extremely difficult terrain at the crash site made it a complex operation."
The search will resume on Monday.