Bodies of Ugandan crew in Garang’s crash to be sent back from Sudan

KAMPALA, Aug, 2005 8 (Xinhua) — Ugandan Minster of Internal Affairs Ruhakana Ruganda has said that the bodies of seven Ugandans who perished in the helicopter crash with John Garang on July 30 are expected to be sent back from Sudan on Monday.

Minister Ruganda was quoted by the state-owned newspaper, The New Vision, as saying on Monday that he was returning to help with investigation into the crash.

The Ugandan presidential helicopter Garang was traveling in went down in bad weather in mountainous terrain.

Garang, Sudanese first vice president and chairman of southern Sudan, was buried in Juba, the regional capital in southern Sudan, on Saturday, but since the crash the bodies of the seven Ugandan crew have not been returned home.

Officials from Uganda’s State House and the ministries of defense, works and internal affairs were meeting on Sunday to draw a full program of preparations to honor and bury the crew, according to a report here on Monday.

The New Vision reported that fifty-six Ugandan officials, including nine ministers and eight MPs and the army commander, joined thousands at the funeral of Garang in Juba on Saturday.

“President Yoweri Museveni, who on Friday expressed uncertainty about the cause of the crash, did not attend the burial. It was the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Henry Kajura, who led the Ugandan delegation that handed over the Ugandan condolence message to the Sudanese leader, Omar Al-Bashir. The delegation flew to Juba in three chartered planes,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Sudanese Ambassador to Uganda Hassan Ibrahim Gadkorim has apologized for his government’s delay to release the bodies.

“We had a lot of confusion as a result of Dr. Garang’s untimely death. Now that Garang has been buried, the bodies will soon be flown home,” said the Sudanese ambassador while addressing thousands of Sudanese and Ugandan mourners in Kampala on Saturday.