El Salvador's President Says Bodies Found in Haiti Are Not the Missing Hostages

El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, has said that four bodies handed over to Salvadoran special forces in Haiti are not those of the four abducted Salvadoran air technicians the troops are trying to recover. The Caribbean country has been ravaged by gang violence for years, and Bukele's statement contradicts an earlier report by the US newspaper the New York Times.

What Bukele said

According to Bukele, a nongovernmental organisation delivered the remains to one of Haiti's airports, claiming they belonged to the four technicians. He said one of the bodies was a child's, another was wearing part of a uniform from an army that is not El Salvador's, and one belonged to a man of "considerably greater height" than the technicians. Identification cards and uniforms from other countries were also among the remains. The president posted pictures of the ID card of a member of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) and a matching national ID from Chad.

What happened to the technicians

The four men, part of the UN-backed GSF, vanished after an armoured vehicle in which they were returning to their camp was ambushed in Croix-des-Bouquets, an area controlled by armed groups. No gang has claimed responsibility. Bukele said the men were mainly there to carry out medical evacuations, not to wage war. The Salvadoran armed forces said helicopters were deployed and several attempts were made to reach the site, but fighting in the area hampered them.

Bukele sent a military contingent to Haiti on Thursday, saying its sole purpose was to bring the men back alive. Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported that about 450 soldiers had been deployed.

Conflicting accounts

The New York Times, citing people close to the mission, reported that the bodies found on Saturday on the outskirts of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, were thought to belong to the missing men. It also said the remains were badly burned, so a medical examination would be needed to identify them. One unnamed source said the ID posted by Bukele belonged to a soldier who lost it after being injured.

The UN said at the start of October that more than 5,700 people had been killed or injured by gangs, or during operations against them, between 1 January and 11 September.