UN mission in Haiti to hold memorial service for 11 peacekeepers killed in crash
Six Uruguayans and five Jordanians died in the crash and their bodies will be repatriated after tomorrow’s service, the mission – known as MINUSTAH – said in a press release issued today.
The crash site, located in the Fonds-Verrettes area, has been secured and the investigation into the cause of the accident is expected to take several weeks, MINUSTAH said. The plane had been on a routine surveillance flight near the border with the Dominican Republic when it struck the mountain around noon.
The mission said it was touched by the many messages of condolences and support it has received from around the world in the wake of the crash.
The Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have both issued statements offering their condolences and voicing sorrow at learning of the news of the crash.
MINUSTAH has been in place in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, since mid-2004 after the then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide went into exile amid violent unrest. Currently there are more than 9,000 military and police personnel deployed and nearly 2,000 civilian staff.