By APP,
United Nations : United Nations peacekeepers from Pakistan, Uruguay and South Africa helped recover the remains of the 17 passengers on board an aid flight that went down in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last Monday, according to a UN press release.
The plane “operated by the United States-based company Air Serv” had crashed as it started its descent towards Bukavu, in the eastern Congolese province of South Kivu, killing all the passengers, including seven UN staff members, and crew members.
The peacekeepers were part of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), which was called in to help locate the aircraft and search for any possible survivors at the 10,000 ft above sea level crash site on a steep slope of mount Kahuzi, posing enormous difficulties in the rescue efforts.
The peacekeepers struggled for two days before the bodies could be recovered from the debris of the aircraft that was spread over a wide area.
MONUC’s Pakistani battalion conducted the operation named “Forest Savoir” in coordination with the peacekeeping mission’s Uruguayan Air Support Unit and South African Mountaineers, the press release said.
Considering the situation, it was decided to drop members of Special Forces from the Pakistani Battalion by helicopter using slings. These personnel prepared a landing site for the helicopters at the base of the mountain and also established a camp for the search and rescue effort.
The operation commenced on September 4, when the team was positioned.
In the first sortie, two Mi-17 helicopters were utilized to drop four individuals of the Pakistani Battalion and three South African Mountaineers near the crash site. In the second sortie, one MI-8 and one Mi-17 were utilized, four individuals were dropped. Communication was established between the crash site and Operations Room of the Pakistani Battalion. The same night, helicopter landing site was prepared near the crash site.
In addition to securing the area, the Pakistani Special Forces also evacuated the bodies. The combined efforts of the Pakistani, Uruguayan and South African peacekeepers resulted in the successful recovery of all the bodies as well as the Black Box, which will help investigators determine the cause of the tragic accident, the press release added.