The United Nations peacekeeping
mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo said one of its new surveillance
drones crashed after technical problems on Wednesday but no one was hurt.
The accident took place around
11:00am local time (0900 GMT) as the drone was landing at the airport in Goma,
capital of the troubled North Kivu province, said a source from the MONUSCO
mission.
An air force officer at Goma airport
said the machine was “completely destroyed.”
MONUSCO spokesman Prosper Basse
confirmed the drone had crashed “as it was returning from a mission.”
“Luckily there were no injuries or
deaths,” added Basse.
“We are carrying out inquiries to
find out the technical cause for the accident,” he told reporters.
The UN drone programme was launched
on December 3.
The drones, which are unarmed and
exclusively equipped for reconnaissance flights, are intended to help the UN
watch over North Kivu, a mineral-rich province prey to dozens of armed
movements, which troops have been ordered to neutralise, including by force.
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