Zimbabwe seizes plane with dead body and cash on board

BBC.COM | Tuesday February 16, 2016 10:43

 

Blood was seen dripping from the South Africa-bound cargo plane during a refuelling stop, the Herald paper said.

Zimbabwe's Civil Aviation Authority said the matter had been handed over to the police to investigate.

Its chief, David Chawota, said the cargo on the US-owned plane belonged to the South African Reserve Bank.

A senior official at the bank, Pradeep Maharaj, said: 'The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is aware of an aircraft carrying a SARB consignment that stopped in Harare and was detained following the discovery of an unidentified body that is presumed to be a stowaway on the aircraft.'

The bank was working with authorities to ensure that the cargo was released and transported to South Africa, he told the BBC.

The plane had been travelling from Germany to South Africa and belonged to Florida-based Western Global Airlines, Zimbabwean officials said.

It had made a request to land at Zimbabwe's Harare International Airport to refuel, they said.

An airport source told the Zimbabwe Herald that after seeing the blood on Sunday airport attendants 'discovered a suspended dead body in the plane'.