14 Pakistanis killed in crash

2004-06-30 09:11

Islamabad - Fourteen Pakistani peacekeepers were among 24 people killed in a UN helicopter crash in Sierra Leone, the Pakistani military said on Wednesday.

"There were 14 Pakistanis among those who died in Tuesday's crash in Sierra Leone," a senior official told AFP.

The Pakistani victims included six officers and eight soldiers who had been in Sierra Leone with the United Nations peacekeeping mission.

A UN spokesperson had said the helicopter was on a routine morning flight in eastern Sierra Leone when it crashed into a hillside, killing all 24 people on board, including three Russian crew, peacekeepers and aid workers.

The crash occurred near Yengema, a rural forested area some 220 kilometres from the capital Freetown and home to a Pakistani military base helping to ensure security in the diamond-rich region near the border with Liberia.

UN spokesperson Sheila Dallas said air operations lost contact with the helicopter, an Mi8-MTV belonging to the Siberian-based UT Air charter company, at 0917 GMT (Tuesday) around the time it had been due to land.

A second helicopter was swiftly dispatched but was forced to land some three kilometres away due to the heavy ground cover.

"We flew in another helicopter near there, because you can't get any vehicles in there and our soldiers went in on foot," Dallas told AFP by telephone from Freetown.

"We can confirm that there were no survivors. All 24 people on board are dead."

The office of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said from New York that an immediate investigation had been launched.

Sierra Leone has an 11 000-strong UN peacekeeping mission helping to rebuild the country after a decade of rebel conflict. Pakistan's contingent of around 2 000 is the largest.

- AFP