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Mali helicopter crash: Two Dutch UN peacekeepers die | Mali helicopter crash: Two Dutch UN peacekeepers die |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A Dutch UN helicopter has crashed near Gao in northern Mali, killing its two crew members, the Dutch defence ministry has said. | |
The Apache helicopter made a forced landing during a military exercise, the UN force in Mali said in a statement. | |
The Dutch armed forces chief, Gen Tom Middendorp, said: "Everything points to this being an accident." | |
The aircraft was from the Minusma mission charged with peacekeeping since Islamist fighters were forced out. | |
One crew member survived the crash but died later of his injuries at a French field hospital, Gen Middendorp told a news conference in The Hague. | |
Gen Middendorp an investigation into the cause of the crash was under way. | |
"The Netherlands is profoundly touched by this terrible accident,'' Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. | |
The Netherlands has 450 military personnel in Mali as part of the 11,000-strong UN mission. | |
Minusma took over security duties from France in 2013 after France had intervened to stop an Islamist insurgency a year earlier. | |
The mission has suffered regular attacks from militants. Earlier this month, a rocket attack on a UN base in northern Mali killed three people. |