MONTEVIDEO, Oct 10, 2009 (AFP) -
Two Uruguayan colonels will head to Haiti to assist an investigation into a fatal UN airplane crash that killed 11 people, the air force said Saturday.
The C-212 plane was part of the United Nations monitoring force in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, and was carrying six Uruguayan soldiers and five Jordanians when it slammed Friday into the side of a mountain in eastern Haiti, killing all passengers and crew onboard.
The bodies of the six Uruguayan soldiers will be repatriated "next week" to the South American country, Uruguayan Defense Minister Gonzalo Fernandez told Radio Montecarlo.
The Uruguayan air force is investigating the accident of the Spanish-made plane, which belonged to the Uruguayan contingent of MINUSTAH and was based in Port-au-Prince, in coordination with United Nations authorities. The cause of the crash remains unknown.
"The plane was in the midst of a reconnaissance mission in southern Haiti when air control at the base lost contact around noon (1700 GMT), as it flew over Ganthier municipality," near the border with the Dominican Republic, the Uruguayan air force said in a statement.
Rescue teams were immediately dispatched and "the aircraft's remains were found in a mountainous region 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Fond Verrettes municipality," it added.
The Brazilian-led MINUSTAH has been deployed in the impoverished Caribbean nation of eight million people since mid-2004.
The mission fields 9,123 uniformed personnel -- 7,057 troops and 2,066 police -- under the command of Brazilian General Floriano Peixoto. It is supported by 492 international civilian personnel, 1,221 local civilian staff and 205 United Nations volunteers.
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