Six Believed To Have Perished

Simeone Siriro Kabyemera is a charcoal burner in the forests of Uganda. He was just sitting down under the thick jungle canopy for a lunch of maize meal porridge when he heard a terrible sound. He looked around and saw trees being uprooted. There was a terrible ripping, crashing sound and Simeone ran for his life.

What the charcoal burner heard was an Antonov AN-26 crashing into the thick forest growth, moments after taking off from Entebbe Airport on its way to Kinshasha.

Six people reportedly died in the accident.

All the victims were thought by Ugandan authorities to have come from Russia.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry is taking steps, including through its diplomatic missions in African nations, to clarify whether the crashed An-26 was a Russian airplane with a crew of Russian citizens on board," a Moscow source told the Interfax news agency.

Uganda's Sunday Vision newspaper reported, however, that Russian pilot was Vladimir Emelayn and his first officer was Vitaly Smelankin.

The aircraft belonged to Service Air, Ltd., according to the Ugandan Minister of Works.

Ugandan authorities said the aircraft was carrying an automobile and sacks of coffee beans. After the accident, nearby villagers were seen pilfering the beans and carrying them home from the crash site.

FMI: www.caa.co.ug