No other people killed in Garang crash – Uganda

KAMPALA, Aug 9, 2005 (Xinhua) — It is not true that there were other people killed in the helicopter crash on July 30 besides Sudanese former first vice president John Garang and 13 others, a senior Ugandan official said Tuesday.

Soldiers carry the coffin of former rebel leader John Garang in Kurmuk village, Blue Nile region of Southern Sudan August 4, 2005. (Reuters).

Minister of Internal Affairs Ruhakana Rugunda, who headed the Ugandan team to Sudan made the clarification while presenting to the media a joint statement of the preliminary investigations prepared by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) investigation committee, the government of Uganda and experts from the United States.

The minister was quoted by Radio Uganda as saying that forensic experts from Uganda, SPLM/A and the United States examined all there mains and together with families of the victims determined that seven of the bodies were Sudanese including that of Garang and seven determined to be Ugandans including one female.

Rugunda said it is also not true that Sudan had withheld the bodies but it was crucial to have thorough identities over them.

Meanwhile, a committee of investigations from SPLM/A, Uganda, Russia and the United States has started their work to establish the cause of the helicopter accident.

A statement by the Sudanese First Vice President Kiir Salva said Sudan, Uganda and the rest of the world deserve answers on this great loss, according to Radio Uganda.