El Salvador's Bukele says bodies found in Haiti are not those of missing Salvadorans

SAN SALVADOR — El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele on Saturday denied that human remains handed over to his military teams at Haiti ’s airport were the bodies of the four Salvadorans reported missing after coming under attack by gangs on Oct. 18.

An official with El Salvador ’s government, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, confirmed that the bodies found were not those of the missing aviation technicians.

The four missing Salvadorans are members of a gang suppression force established by the U.N. Security Council to combat organized crime in the Caribbean nation. Bukele has clarified that the Salvadorans are aviation technicians, not troops trained for combat.

On X, Bukele wrote that a nongovernmental organization handed over the remains of a child, a man “of considerably greater height than that of our air technicians," and another person wearing a uniform different from those worn by Salvadoran personnel.

He did not directly mention a fourth body, but wrote that “among the remains, identification cards and military uniforms from other countries were also found.”

“They are not our men,” Bukele wrote, adding that the organization that handed over the bodies claimed they belonged to the four aviation technicians.

Another official with knowledge of the investigation, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, told The Associated Press on Saturday night that four bodies were recovered but that there was no confirmation they were the Salvadoran aviation technicians.

The New York Times, citing a humanitarian aid organization, reported that the four bodies found could be those of the Salvadorans, but noted they were “severely burned” and that autopsies were needed to identify them.

El Salvador deployed more than 100 special forces troops to Haiti on Oct. 22 to help rescue the Salvadorans, a day after announcing a military operation and warning the criminals of a more forceful response if the Salvadorans are not released alive and unharmed.

Haiti’s government described the incident as a kidnapping and said the search for the technicians was its top priority.