Friday January 19, 2024
A cargo plane carrying medical supplies at Aden Abdulle International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia on May 02, 2020. PHOTO | ANADOLU AGENCY via AFP
A cargo plane contracted by the United Nations (UN) on Thursday crashed while landing on an airstrip in El-Barde in Somalia’s South West State, killing one person and injuring two others.
The aircraft was carrying humanitarian supplies for the World Food Programme (WFP) when it veered off the runway.
“The United Nations in Somalia expresses its condolence to the family and colleagues of the victim, and wishes a speedy recovery for the injured,” UN said in a statement Thursday.
The UN said it was working with the contracted airline company, the federal government and the South West State authorities to investigate the incident.
The accident comes just a week after a UN helicopter made an emergency landing in an Al Shabaab-controlled territory in Central Galmudug State.
An internal UN memo circulated to staff in Somalia last week said nine people were aboard the helicopter and six were reportedly taken into captivity. One passenger was believed to have been killed and two had fled, the memo added.