Zimbabwe seizes plane with dead body and cash on board Published duration 15 February 2016

image caption The plane is impounded at Harare International Airport

A plane with a cargo of millions of South African rand has been impounded in Zimbabwe after a dead body was found on board, state-run media report.

Blood was seen dripping from the South Africa-bound cargo plane during a refuelling stop, the Herald paper said.

Zimbabwe's Civil Aviation Authority said the matter had been handed over to the police to investigate.

Its chief, David Chawota, said the cargo on the US-owned plane belonged to the South African Reserve Bank.

A senior official at the bank, Pradeep Maharaj, said: "The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is aware of an aircraft carrying a SARB consignment that stopped in Harare and was detained following the discovery of an unidentified body that is presumed to be a stowaway on the aircraft."

The bank was working with authorities to ensure that the cargo was released and transported to South Africa, he told the BBC.

The plane had been travelling from Germany to South Africa and belonged to Florida-based Western Global Airlines, Zimbabwean officials said.

image caption It is reported that the cargo was cash for South Africa's central bank

It had made a request to land at Zimbabwe's Harare International Airport to refuel, they said.

An airport source told the Zimbabwe Herald that after seeing the blood on Sunday airport attendants "discovered a suspended dead body in the plane".

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Zimbabwe