SECRETARY-GENERAL SHOCKED AT LOSS OF UN HELICOPTER IN GEORGIA

SECRETARY-GENERAL SHOCKED AT LOSS OF UN HELICOPTER IN GEORGIA

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

The Secretary-General was shocked to learn today that a United Nations  helicopter carrying nine passengers and crew was reportedly shot down in the western part of the Kodori Valley in Georgia.

Four military observers, two local staff and three Ukrainian flight crew from the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) were on board the helicopter.  The helicopter took off on patrol from Sukhumi airport at 8:55 this morning, local time.  The reported attack occurred at about 9:20.  Both the Abkhaz authorities and the Confederation of Independent States’ peacekeeping force informed UNOMIG that the helicopter had been shot down by a missile near the village of Amktel.

A UN search and rescue team has been dispatched to the site, but its arrival has been delayed by fighting in the area, which has intensified recently between Abkhazian forces and armed partisan groups in the Kodori Valley.

The Secretary-General is awaiting additional information before commenting further.

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