By Admin
A Ugandan military helicopter has crashed in Somalia with eight people on board.
The head of the Somali Civil Aviation Authority, Ahmed Maalim, told the BBC that the helicopter was flying from the Balidogle airbase in the Lower Shabelle region.
Fire broke out after the helicopter crashed at the Aden Adde International Airport on Wednesday.
Airport staff said that the fire was quickly contained by the airport emergency services.
One of the staff told the Reuters news agency that they heard the blast and saw smoke and flames, which covered the helicopter.
In a statement shared on his X account, the Uganda People’s Defence Force Spokesperson Felix Kulayigye said that three of the helicopter’s eight occupants had survived.
‘The fire that was burning after the crash was being put out before the fate of the other occupants could be determined”, the statement reads in part.
The UPDF was deployed in Somalia to help in the fight against Al-Shabaab militants as part of the African Union (AU) force.
In 2021, another helicopter crashed in southern Somalia, injuring four UPDF soldiers.
The soldiers were on a mission to support their troops in the Lower Shabelle region crashed soon after take-off in Balidogle.
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