Johannesburg – Ugandan police and the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are investigating the confusing circumstances surrounding the death of a United Arab Emirates airline air hostess who plunged to her death from an aircraft at Entebbe International Airport on Wednesday.
Conjecture has surrounded what happened to Elena Vassileva, 46, a Bulgarian national who was part of the Emirates crew as flight EK730 prepared to fly to Dubai from Entebbe.
The Emirates plane had arrived in Uganda not long before on a flight from Dubai and was preparing for the return flight.
A badly injured Vassileva, suffering life-threatening injuries, was pictured crumpled and bleeding on the tarmac before she was rushed to hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.
Read more:
Her death was reported on social media on Thursday with reports of her having a verbal altercation with other crew members while passengers stated she had deliberately opened the door, with a glass held under her throat, speculating that “suicide might have been the reason for jumping”.
However, Emirates refused to report her death despite Kisubi Hospital reporting her dead on arrival after she was rushed there by ambulance from the airport.
Instead, Emirates said she was being treated in hospital and that she had “fallen” from the aircraft.
Later Emirates spokesperson in Uganda, Maurine Nagasha, declined to divulge any information saying they would cooperate with authorities in the ongoing investigations.