Zimbabwe grounds cargo plane ‘dripping with blood’

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG

Zimbabwe grounded a U.S.-owned cargo plane carrying consignment for a South African bank after a dead body was discovered aboard during refueling at the Harare International Airport Sunday, a Zimbabwean aviation official confirmed Monday.

The aircraft was en route to South Africa from Germany before it was impounded at 9 a.m. Sunday.

“We grounded the [Florida-based] Western Global Airlines plane on Sunday after a dead body was found on board,” Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) Public Relations manager A. J. Hungwe told Anadolu Agency from Harare.

Hungwe said the plane was carrying consignment for a South African bank. “According to documentation for the consignment, it was for the South African Reserve Bank,” she said.

Zimbabwe’s state-owned Herald Newspaper reported in its Monday edition that the plane was impounded after airport staff saw blood dripping from it while it was being refueled.

According to the paper, authorities conducted a search and found a dead body and millions of South African rand in cash stashed inside the aircraft.

“The matter is currently being handled by the Zimbabwean Ministry of Home Affairs, since it’s now a diplomatic issue,” Hungwe told Anadolu Agency.

Anadolu Agency approached the South African Reserve Bank for comment, but it did not receive any till the filing of this report.