(AKI) - A helicopter contracted by the United Nations has crashed in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan, killing all four crew members, a spokesperson for the world body said. "Preliminary reports indicate there are four crew members dead and that the aircraft had been completely destroyed," Marie Okabe told reporters in New York. "There were no passengers on board." According to the UN-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the helicopter crashed on Monday near the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons after takeoff from Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. "There'll be further information following an investigation," Okabe said.
Earlier this month a UN helicopter in Darfur landed safely after being shot at in the third incident of its kind in Darfur, where a conflict pitting rebels against government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen has raged since 2003.
The Kalma camp is host to some 80,000 displaced people and the site of clashes last month with Sudanese security forces that resulted in the death of dozens of residents.