A Ugandan military helicopter with eight people on board crashed and caught fire at the main international airport in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, reports BBC with reference to a representative of the Ugandan army, writes UNN.
Details
Three people suffered burns, but the other five are "still unaccounted for" after the crash at Aden Adde International Airport, said Major General Felix Kulayigye, adding that the cause of the crash is still unknown.
"We heard an explosion and saw smoke and flames over the helicopter. The smoke completely covered the helicopter," Farah Abdulle, one of the airport employees, told Reuters news agency.
Somalia's state news agency reported that the fire was quickly contained by emergency services.
Ugandan troops are part of the 11,000-strong African Union (AU) force that helps the government fight the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group, which has been waging a brutal insurgency in Somalia for more than two decades.
Ahmed Maalim, head of the Somali Civil Aviation Authority, told the BBC that the helicopter crashed in the military section of the airport after arriving from Balidogle airbase in the Lower Shabelle region, about 90 km northwest of Mogadishu.
In its statement, the AU mission in Somalia said that three survivors were taken to the hospital for treatment, while operations are underway to "evacuate the rest of the crew and passengers."
AU and Somali officials said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the crash.
This delayed the departure of a Turkish Airlines passenger plane, but domestic flights continue to operate as usual.
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