A "
luminous object
", the nature of which remains to be determined, would have caused the crash of the helicopter in which eight peacekeepers perished on Tuesday March 29 in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to initial elements of the investigation. made public on Wednesday by the UN Mission in the country (Monusco).
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"
The first preliminary remarks from our force staff report a crash which would have been caused by a luminous object
", declared on RFI Khassim Diagne, deputy special representative for protection and operations within MONUSCO. .
“
I confirm
,” Ndèye Khady Lo, deputy spokesperson for the UN Mission, told AFP.
"
The remains of the helicopter have been found, an investigation is underway and should make it possible to learn more about the nature of this object
," she added.
According to her, the cause of the crash therefore seems "
external
" but it is "
premature
" to conclude that it is "
not an accident
".
“
We are not ruling out any leads
said Khassim Diagne, including "
the trail of an attack on this helicopter
".
The crash occurred while the helicopter was on reconnaissance in the Tchanzu area, in Rutshuru territory (North Kivu province), where clashes had been taking place since the day before between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels ("
Movement of 23 March
").
Army and rebels accuse each other of having "
shot down
" the aircraft.
The bodies of the eight peacekeepers who died in the crash - six Pakistanis, a Russian and a Serb - were brought back to Goma, capital of North Kivu, Monusco said on Wednesday.
