President Nayib Bukele said delivered remains were not four missing Salvadoran technicians
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele denied that human remains handed over in Haiti belonged to four Salvadoran military aviation technicians missing since a gang ambush near Port-au-Prince on Oct. 18, contradicting a New York Times report. Haiti's Gang Suppression Force said the unidentified remains could belong to the missing technicians; an unnamed Salvadoran government official told The Associated Press they were not.
More context
President Nayib Bukele said Saturday that remains delivered to his military teams in Haiti were not those of four Salvadoran aviation technicians who disappeared after a gang ambush near Port-au-Prince on Oct. 18. He rejected a New York Times account that four bodies believed to be the missing technicians had been recovered on the Haitian capital’s outskirts.
Bukele wrote on X that a nongovernmental organization had delivered remains at Haiti’s airport, saying they belonged to the four. He said they included a child, a man considerably taller than the missing technicians and a person wearing part of a foreign military uniform.
Haiti’s Gang Suppression Force said it received unidentified remains that might be those of the missing technicians. A Salvadoran government official who spoke anonymously separately told The Associated Press the bodies were not the missing technicians.
Was this story useful?
What was the main problem? (optional)
Reporting
- Bozeman Daily Chronicle (with Associated Press) — El Salvador’s Bukele says bodies found in Haiti are not those of missing Salvadorans
- Batesville Daily Guard — El Salvador’s Bukele says bodies found in Haiti are not those of missing Salvadorans | World | guardonline.com
- Anadolu Agency — El Salvador's president denies report that bodies found in Haiti are missing Salvadoran soldiers
- News.Az — El Salvador president denies bodies found in Haiti are missing soldiers | News.az
- telesurenglish.net — Haiti: Anti-Gang Force Confirms Finding Remains, Bukele Denies Those to Be Salvadoran Missing Military - teleSUR English
- cibercuba.com — Bukele refutes the New York Times: The remains found in Haiti do not belong to the missing Salvadoran soldiers
Verifier’s note
Multiple results report Bukele’s denial that the remains found in Haiti belonged to the missing Salvadorans. The reports are dated October 25, 2026, consistent with the proposed event’s timing.