US divers to search for plane wreckage

Mar 17, 2009

American divers arrived on Sunday to help retrieve the wreckage of the plane that crashed into Lake Victoria killing 11 people.

By Steven Candia

American divers arrived on Sunday to help retrieve the wreckage of the plane that crashed into Lake Victoria killing 11 people.

It is not clear how many divers came with a team from Djibouti, but at least four visited the scene of the crash on Sunday afternoon, sources said.

They were expected to take part in the retrieving exercise yesterday.

Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Ignie Igundura yesterday said: “There is some progress and there are several support bodies helping us.”

“There are no chances of finding any survivors, so the focus is now to salvage the wreckage,” he said.

Igundura disclosed that several body parts had been retrieved from the lake, adding that the victims would soon be identified.

Efforts are now directed towards salvaging the wreckage of the plane, particularly the fuselage which is crucial to the investigation as it could contain vital information prior to the accident.

The plane was flying to Somalia from Entebbe Airport when it burst into flames and plunged into the lake shortly after take-off.

It was operated by Aerolift and charted by Dynacorp, an American company.

Two Ugandans, a Burundian army general, his two senior colleagues, four Russian crew members, a South African and an Indian died in the crash.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});