DR Congo: efforts still under way to reach UN helicopter crash site

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reported today that a rescue team has arrived several kilometres from the area where one of its helicopters went missing this weekend, but have not yet reached the wreckage site owing to bad weather conditions and difficult terrain.

The helicopter, with four crew members on board, went missing on Saturday between Bukavu and Shabunda in the eastern province of South Kivu, according to the UN Organization Stabilisation Mission in DRC (MONUSCO).

“The helicopter’s wreckage has been located and a rescue team has arrived a few kilometres away from it,” UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told a news conference in New York.

“However, due to bad weather restrictions and the difficult terrain, the team has not yet been able to reach the crash site,” he added.

MONUSCO is tasked with supporting the Congolese authorities in their stabilization and peace consolidation efforts, including assisting with the holding of elections, the monitoring of human rights violations and support for Government action against armed groups operating in the east of the country.