At least three killed in AU helicopter crash at Mogadishu airport

At least three people were killed Wednesday after a helicopter belonging to the African Union Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) crashed while landing at the capital’s Aden Adde International Airport, according to police and eyewitnesses quoted by AFP.

The helicopter, operated by the Ugandan contingent of the AU mission, had taken off from Baledogle military airbase, around 90 kilometers from Mogadishu, before crashing during its landing.

According to an official statement from AUSSOM, the helicopter was carrying eight people. Three survivors were rescued and transferred to a mission-operated hospital, though the condition of the injured was not disclosed. Search and rescue operations remain ongoing to recover the remaining passengers and crew.

A source from the mission confirmed that among those retrieved from the crash site were three bodies.

An eyewitness, Mohamed Barre, who was at the airport during the incident, said emergency services and fire trucks rushed to the scene as smoke and flames rose from the wreckage. He confirmed fatalities but could not specify how many.

Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash. In a statement, the authority said airport operations were not disrupted and continued as normal.

The incident comes amid growing challenges for the AU mission in Somalia, which has been dealing with increasing attacks by the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab, as well as significant shortages in personnel and funding.