Colombia on Thursday rejected claims by the United Nations (UN) that 20,000 unidentified bodies are being hidden in 27 hangars at El Dorado Airport in the capital Bogota, Anadolu agency reported.
After a four-hour inspection, Colombian authorities rejected the allegations by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
Shortly before the inspection, Opain, the private company that runs the airport, and Medicina Legal also announced that they were unaware of any hangar containing bodies.
The Colombian government’s remarks followed a visit this morning by a UN Commission, which criticized the existence of an alleged quasi-morgue containing up to 20,000 unidentified bodies in a hangar at Bogota’s El Dorado Airport.
Colombian authorities launched a detailed inspection that eventually led to their denial of the claims.
“Regarding news published in some media outlets about the alleged existence of a hangar with thousands of lifeless bodies, OPAIN, the concessionaire of El Dorado International Airport, informs the public that it has no knowledge of these allegations,” the airport management company said, according to media reports.
The Institute of Forensic Medicine also said it was not aware of the existence of such a hangar and clarified that it “has not received any requests from the authorities to study or analyze such cases.”
The UN published a report on Thursday on the situation of enforced disappearances and the treatment of unidentified bodies in the country.
“Thousands of unidentified bodies lie in cemeteries or poorly managed warehouses, such as the hangar at the Bogota airport, where around 20,000 unidentified bodies are currently located,” the UN said in a statement.
Photo: Airport in Columbia
