El Salvador President Denies Recovered Bodies in Haiti Are Missing Salvadorans

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced Saturday that human remains delivered to military teams at Haiti’s airport are not those of four Salvadoran aviation technicians who went missing after being attacked by gangs on October 18.

An unnamed El Salvadoran government official confirmed that the recovered bodies were not those of the missing technicians. Bukele stated on the social platform X that a non-governmental organization presented the remains of a child and a man taller than the missing technicians, along with another individual in a non-Salvadoran uniform. Identification cards and military uniforms from other countries were also found among the remains.

"They are not our men," Bukele wrote, noting the organization's claim that the remains belonged to the four aviation technicians.

Another official, speaking anonymously, also confirmed that four bodies were recovered but stated there was no confirmation they were the missing Salvadoran technicians.

The New York Times reported, citing a humanitarian aid organization, that the four bodies found could be those of the Salvadorans, but they were "severely burned" and required autopsies for identification.

The four missing individuals are part of a gang suppression force established by the U.N. Security Council to combat organized crime in Haiti. Bukele has clarified that these individuals are aviation technicians, not combat-trained troops.

On October 22, El Salvador deployed over 100 special forces troops to Haiti to assist in the rescue of the technicians. This deployment followed an announcement of a military operation and a warning to criminals of a more forceful response if the technicians were not released unharmed.

Haiti's government has characterized the incident as a kidnapping and has identified the search for the technicians as its highest priority.