A plane carrying aid supplies for use in the fight against the coronavirus crashed in Somalia on Monday, killing all six people on board, the Somali transport minister said.
He declined to speculate on the cause of the crash, but a former defence minister told Reuters news agency that he spoke to a witness at the airfield who said the plane appeared to have been shot down.
A message from the Foreign Affairs Ministry also demanded answers from Somalia authorities over an aircraft that was brought down in Bardale.
Six people – the pilot, copilot, flight engineer and a trainee pilot, as well as two people working for the airline – were onboard, said Transport Minister Mohamed Salad. Five bodies were recovered so far, he said.
Kenya also called on Somalia and International agencies to investigate the reasons why the aircraft was brought down in an area controlled by Ethiopian troops.
Minister Salad said he sent a unit to investigate that will arrive on Tuesday, and said he welcomed international assistance.
Abdirashid Abdullahi Mohamed, Somalia’s former minister of defence, said a witness told him the plane made an initial attempt to land, swung around again because of wildlife on the airfield, and then appeared to be shot on one wing on its second approach.
He provided photographs showing the plane in flames, pieces of it scattered over a small area, and its tail intact, and provided a passenger list with six names. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the images or confirm the names.
