UN investigators offer final report on helicopter crash in South Sudan last year

A seven-member UN Board of Inquiry (BOI) on South Sudan, mandated to carry out a probe into the crash of a UN-contracted helicopter the country in August last year, submitted its final report, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said here Friday.

The probe team was constituted by the UN Department of Field Support (DFS) to consider the circumstances of the helicopter crash in Bentiu, Unity State of the youngest country in the world, Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

Three people were killed and another injured when the helicopter belonging to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) crashed in late August last year.

Thousands of people have been reportedly killed last year in bitter fighting between South Sudan's army and rebel forces. Bentiu, the capital of the oil-rich Unity state, has changed hands several times but a ceasefire agreement is currently in place.

"The findings have been shared with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the Permanent Mission of Russia, and other relevant stakeholders, responsible for implementing the Board's recommendations," Dujarric said.

"While as all Board of Inquiry reports, it is an internal document, the facts made available to the Board indicate that there is a high probability that the helicopter was hit by anti- aircraft fire, which caused a mechanical failure and eventually leading to the crash that destroyed the helicopter," he said.

"The Board was not able to identify the attackers," he said. " The location of the attack borders an area where both the SPLA ( the Sudan People's Liberation Army) and the SPLA in Opposition operate and where the firing could have come from either party."

The United Nations plays a vital role in getting food to the 1. 8 million people who have fled their homes since fighting broke out in December 2013. Many have sought shelter in UN bases around the country, including Bentiu. Endite