3 UGANDAN PILOTS DIE IN PLANE CRASH

THREE Ugandans are confirmed dead among the 22 people who perished on Thursday when a Rwandan-registered cargo plane crashed into a suburb of Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic (CAR).The dead Ugandans include the pilot, Capt. Charles Haguma, his co-pilot Fred Kirya and a crewmember only identified as Muhangi. Aviation sources in Kigali and Entebbe said yesterday 22 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage.Two survivors, a man and a woman, were retrieved from the wreckage with serious injuries.A third male survivor, who was identified as Ugandan, is reported to have escaped unhurt but a local resident was also said to have been injured seriously. The Civil Aviation Authority spokesman, Igni Igunduura, said they were trying to obtain a list of other passengers from Kigali and Bangui.Reports from Bangui said the plane was carrying 25 people who included eight crew and 17 passengers. The crash occurred at about 11:00am (West African time).The pilot had earlier asked for permission to make an emergency landing at Bangui airport, citing “technical problems.”The aircrafts’s black box was found. Part of the fuselage was reported to be burried in a swamp, with wings broken off and twisted metal scattered everywhere, 3kms, just 100 yards from the first shanty homes, an AFP correspondent said.The identities of the other dead persons or the three survivors could not be established immediately. At the time, medical workers at Bangui Hospital were said to be on strike.The aircraft, a Boeing 707, was registered in Rwanda . It s owner a Kigali businessman, Steven Shyaka, also died in the crash.The plane was flying from the Chadian capital, Ndjamena, to Congo-Brazzaville, via the CAR. It was reported to be carrying cargo of onions.Some people ran away with sacks of onions, which had been spilled out of the aircraft.“People were crying everywhere...I even saw people walking away with bits of the aircraft,” an airport worker was quoted as saying. A representative of Prestige Airlines, a subsidiary of Goma Airlines (NewGomair), Jean-de Dieu Gato, told The New Vision “We are making preparations to fly Ugandans to pick their loved ones. We expect to take off as soon as they are ready.” He said more information could be obtained from the Uganda Embassy in Kigali. Ends