UN helicopter crashes in South Sudan

UN helicopter crashes in South Sudan

A United Nations-contracted helicopter has crashed in South Sudan’s oil-rich Unity state with the cause of the incident still unknown, the mission said Tuesday.

“The United Nations Mission in South Sudan confirms that one of its MI-8 helicopters has crashed about 10 km south of Bentiu in Unity State,” party reads its statement.

UNMISS further said it “lost contact with the helicopter, which was on a routine cargo flight from Wau to Bentiu, at 14.28 hours today.”

The mission expressed deep concern about the fate of the crew and has dispatched a search and rescue team to the site of the incident.

“Investigations regarding the cause of the incident will begin as soon as possible,” it said.

-ST