Democratic Republic of Congo: 32 United Nations Staff Killed in Plane Crash

By News Desk; published on April 4, 2011 at 11:11 pm

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32 United Nations staff have died as a plane crashed trying to land at Kinshasa. The aircraft was travelling from Kisangani and only one person survived. The incident occurred at N’Djili airport at around 1 p.m. West African Time (UTC + 1hr).

The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) has reported that the plane was carrying 29 passengers and four crew members, and that the passengers included both UN and non-UN staff.

The Canadair CL-600-2B19 Regional Jet CRJ-100ER had been leased from Georgian Airways and had been in operation for 16 years. It is thought that the plane got into difficulty whilst landing in bad conditions.

MONUSCO has set up a task force in the wake of the crash to lead the investigation and determine what follow-up actions are needed. Counsellors are being provided for affected staff and a hotline is also being established for the families and friends of the crash victims.

The mission said that the names of the victims will be released after their bodies have been positively identified and the next of kin informed.

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Posted by News Desk on April 4, 2011. Filed under News,XFeatured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

News Tags: Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa, Kisangani, MONUSCO, N’Djili airport, UN, United Nations.

About News Desk

Editors and staff from the News Desk at The Global Herald.

Website: http://theglobalherald.com/section/news/