Pilot's remains returned to SA
2008-09-10 12:02
Johannesburg - The body of the South African pilot killed in a plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been returned to South Africa, airline company CemAir said on Wednesday.
Spokesperson Ina van den Berg said the body of Rudi Knoetze arrived in the country on Tuesday.
Knoetze was flying a humanitarian aid plane on a flight from Kinshasa to Mbandaka, Kisangani and Bukavu. It crashed into a mountain in the DRC after losing contact with the control tower during a violent storm.
Knoetze was among 17 people who died in the crash.
A helicopter spotted the wreckage of the Beechcraft 1900C, chartered by the United States-based company Air Serv, on Tuesday about 15km from Bukavu.
According to the news agency Agence France Presse, the victims included a Canadian member of the United Nations Development Programme, an Indian employed by the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Aid, a French national and a national of Congo who worked for Paris-based Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders).
- SAPA