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11 U.N. Peacekeepers Killed in Haiti Plane Crash
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) -- Eleven United Nations peacekeepers were killed Friday when their surveillance plane crashed into a mountainside in Haiti during a routine patrol, United Nations officials said. A rescue team confirmed that there were no survivors among the 11 crew members and military personnel on the plane, a Casa 212, when it went down near the town of Fonds-Verrettes, near the border with the Dominican Republic. The people on board were Uruguayans and Jordanians, said Vannina Maestracci, a United Nations spokeswoman.
May they have been better men than the reputation of their militaries portends, and may that bring comfort to those who mourn their deaths.
The cause of the crash was unknown. Local officials said the plane went down in a remote area near the village of Pays-Pourri in the district of Ganthier, a farming region area east of Port-au-Prince, the capital.

In a statement, the United Nations said that the plane, "carrying 11 passengers, including the crew, crashed southeast of the commune of Ganthier."

"The Casa 212 aircraft was making a reconnaissance flight at the time of the accident before hitting a mountainside," the statement read.

The peacekeeping force, which has been in Haiti since 2004, consists of about 9,000 troops and police officers.
I haven't been keeping track -- have they accomplished anything positive?

Posted by: Steve White 2009-10-11
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=280757