Three crew members of a helicopter contracted by the United Nations died on Tuesday when it crashed near Bentiu in Unity State. It was not initially made clear whether the helicopter was shot down or crashed accidentally.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan released a statement confirming that one of its MI-8 helicopters crashed about 10 km south of Bentiu in Unity State.
“The Mission lost contact with the helicopter, which was on a routine cargo flight from Wau to Bentiu, at 14.28 hours today,” reads the statement.
Separately, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, confirmed at a press conference in New York that the crew members were Russian citizens and the helicopter was contracted from a Russian company.
Dujarric said there was one surviving crew member who has received treatment from aid workers in Bentiu.
Reuters reports that the Russian aircraft owner UTair airline said its Mi-8 helicopter was shot down, not crashed accidentally.
“According to preliminary information, the helicopter was shot down with surface-to-air fire and is lying 3 kilometers away from the destination airport,” the company said in a statement.
The United Nations is yet to corroborate this report.
Meanwhile, the South Sudanese rebel group SPLM-IO denied responsibility for the incident, saying its forces in the area under the overall command of Peter Gadet Yak did not shoot down the aircraft.
This comes after the government’s military spokesman alleged the rebels were responsible for shooting down the helicopter.
“Col. Philip Aguer’s rushed and premature accusations are unfounded and baseless. SPLA calls upon UNMISS to conduct thorough investigations to establish the circumstances under which the chopper came down,” said SPLM-IO military spokesman Lul Ruai.
He also said the rebel group pledges “full cooperation with the Investigation Team once formed.”