UN drone crashes in democratic republic Congo

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said Wednesday one of its new surveillance drones crashed after technical problems, but nobody was hurt. The accident happened Wednesday morning local time (0900 GMT) as the unmanned aerial vehicle was landing at the airport in Goma, the capital of the troubled North Kivu province, the MONUSCO mission said. An air force officer at the airport said the drone was “completely destroyed.” The drone crashed “as it was returning from a mission,” MONUSCO spokesman Prosper Basse said. “Luckily, there were no injuries or deaths,” he told reporters. “We are carrying out inquiries to find out the technical cause for the accident.” The U.N. drone program in DRC was launched in early December. The aircraft, which are unarmed and exclusively equipped for reconnaissance flights, are intended to help the United Nations monitor North Kivu, a mineral-rich province that hosts dozens of armed movements.