A report published in the American magazine Time a fortnight later described the incident as " a genuine horror story , calculated to make the most alarming of Rhodesian doomsday prophecies seem true . " Indeed , the white community in Rhodesia heard the news with fury , and many turned their minds to exacting retribution for what they and many others saw as an act of terrorism . The prominent Indian @-@ Rhodesian Gulab family was particularly affected by the incident , having lost eight members in the attack . Though Rhodesian authorities did not immediately acknowledge no cause of the crash , doing so only after four days ' investigation , the truth was common knowledge in Salisbury within hours . Smith wrote in his memoirs that the " degree of anger ... [ was ] difficult to control " . White South Africans were similarly enraged , particularly after reports appeared in the South African press that the killers had raped the female passengers before massacring them . A Friends of Rhodesia Society in South Africa offered a reward of R100,000 to anybody who would either kill Nkomo or bring him to Salisbury to stand trial .