UN Sending Team To Recover Wreckage Of Chartered Plane

Search crews continued to combat rugged territory near the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Monday to reach the wreckage of an aircraft, believed to be a chartered Cessna Caravan flying for the United Nations' World Food Programme. Authorities believe the plane went down Friday in a region known as the "Mountains of the Moon."

"It looks as if a team will have to climb there," said WFP spokesman Michael Huggins, adding the wreckage is located approximately 500 meters higher than originally thought.

Identities of the three people onboard the aircraft -- a South African pilot, his wife, and another passenger who is believed to be either a French or Canadian national -- have not been released.

Helicopter crews located the wreckage on Margherita Peak this weekend, but had to call off their recovery attempts due to weather.

"...The difficulty is that no helicopter has been able to land where it has been seen so we have not yet confirmed whether that is the wreckage of the plane that went missing," said WFP regional spokesman Peter Smerdon to Uganda's Daily Monitor.

Huggins cautioned it had not been confirmed the wreckage was that of the missing cargo plane, which disappeared in the area Friday while on a mission from Goma to the mountain community of Bunia in the DRC. The plane was said to be carrying foodstuffs and other items to the war-torn northeastern part of that country.

The Mountains of the Moon -- also known as the Ruwenzori massif -- lies in both Ugandan and DRC territory. The aircraft's wreckage is in Ugandan territory, according to local media reports.

A company called King Air Charter Services operated the plane.

FMI: www.wfp.org