Three monkeys are still on the loose in the US state of Mississippi after a truck carrying the research animals overturned - but it remains unclear who owns the monkeys, who was transporting them and where they were being taken.

The monkey mystery left a host of unanswered questions for authorities.

Officials said at midday on Tuesday that all but one of the escaped Rhesus monkeys had been killed.

But the Jasper County Sheriff's Department later said officials from Tulane University got into the trailer on Tuesday evening and determined three monkeys had escaped.

Sheriff Randy Johnson said Tulane officials reported the monkeys were not infectious, despite initial reports from the truck's occupants warning that the monkeys were dangerous and harbouring various diseases.

But Johnson sai

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