Dramatic footage has emerged of an Ethiopian military helicopter crash in South Sudan.
An Ethiopian military helicopter registration Number UNO 379P with 23 passengers on board has crashed on 9 February inside the compound of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) killing three of its crew members.
The Mil Mi-8 (also noted Mi-17 version) helicopter was on routine operation carrying Ethiopian troops on rotation from Kadugli to Abyei when it crashed.
The statement says 23 passengers were on board when the helicopter crashed Saturday morning while carrying Ethiopian soldiers. Three occupants died and ten were injured, some serious.
General Gebre Adhana Woldezgu commended UNISFA personnel who responded promptly to the crash by assisting to evacuate passengers from the helicopter, stressing that the casualty figures could have been much higher. “This show of solidarity reflects the spirit of peacekeeping and must be applauded”, General Woldezgu said.
The U.N. force says the cause of the crash is not immediately known.
Ethiopia is the only troop contributor to the U.N. mission, with some 4,500 personnel on the ground.
Both Sudan and South Sudan claim ownership of the oil-rich Abyei area.