United Nations’ helicopter carrying eight people who were on a peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has crashed.
Gatekeepers News reports that the helicopter went down in the country’s restive east, in an area where there has been fighting this week between rebels and the Congolese army.
The mission, known as MONUSCO, did not state the cause of the crash in North Kivu province on Tuesday but noted that an investigation was underway.
There were eight people on board the Puma helicopter, including six crew members – all from the Pakistani military – and two military personnel – one from Russia and another from Serbia.
Their bodies have been retrieved during a search and rescue operation launched by MONUSCO.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his “deep sense of shock and grief”, his office said, paying tribute to the global peace effort by the country’s armed forces.
MONUSCO said the helicopter was on a reconnaissance mission when it crashed in the area of Tshanzu, the scene of recent clashes between the M23 rebel group and Congolese soldiers.
The DRC’s army said the helicopter was shot down by the M23 rebels. But the group denied this, instead claiming the Congolese military was responsible for the crash.
