SG/SM/6493

SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES SORROW OVER CRASH OF UN HELICOPTER IN GUATEMALA, KILLING FIVE STAFF, WOUNDING FOUR

17 March 1998


Press Release
SG/SM/6493
CA/13


SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES SORROW OVER CRASH OF UN HELICOPTER IN GUATEMALA, KILLING FIVE STAFF, WOUNDING FOUR

19980317 The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary- General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General has learned with deep sorrow that a helicopter, leased by the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) and carrying nine staff members, crashed today on a trip in the north of the country. Five of those staff members -- from Australia, Bolivia, Guatemala, Spain and Uruguay -- are dead and four are wounded, two of them in critical condition. Details of the circumstances of the crash are still being investigated. The families of the victims are being notified. The wounded have been flown to the capital city and are being given immediate medical attention. The Secretary-General wishes to express his profound regret and condolences to the wounded and to the families and governments of those who lost their lives at the service of the United Nations.

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