Helicopter with eight people on board crashes at Aden Adde airport, the main international airport in Mogadishu.
A helicopter used by an African Union peacekeeping mission has crashed at the international airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing five passengers, a Ugandan military spokesperson said.
Another three of the helicopter’s eight occupants survived the incident on Wednesday but with severe injuries and burns, said the spokesperson, Felix Kulayigye.
The impact of the crash had caused munitions on board to detonate, destroying nearby structures and injuring three civilians, he said.
The helicopter had taken off from Baledogle Airfield in the Lower Shabelle and crash-landed at Aden Adde international airport just before touching down, the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) said.
AUSSOM also confirmed that at least three people had survived the crash, which it said took place at about 7:30am (04:30 GMT).
Abdirahim Ali, who lives nearby, said he saw “a huge explosion and smoke everywhere”, while aviation officer Omar Farah told The Associated Press news agency that he “saw the helicopter spinning and then it fell very fast”.
Minor delays were reported at the airport, but the director-general of the country’s civil aviation authority said flights had resumed.
“The situation is under control. The runway is clear and fully operational – flights can land and take off as usual,” Ahmed Macalin Hassan noted.
The AUSSOM mission has more than 11,000 personnel in Somalia from countries including Uganda and Kenya.
They are helping the Somali military to counter the armed group al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate that wants to topple the country’s government and establish its own rule.
This week, the Somali army killed a prominent leader from the group in the Middle Shabelle region, state media reported.
Quoting military sources, the Somali National News Agency said the leader was targeted during an operation in the Dar Nama’a area.
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