U.N PLANE CRASH IN HAITI KILLING ALL 11 ON BOARD

FONDS-PARISIEN, Haiti : A surveillance plane assigned to the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti crashed into a mountain Friday, killing all 11 military personnel on board, the United Nations said.

• U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas in New York said the Uruguayan CASA212 aircraft went down in rugged terrain west of Fonds-Verrettes near the border with the Dominican Republic, some 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the capital, Port-au-Prince.
• "The aircraft was on a regular reconnaissance flight," Montas said in a statement.
• Rescue teams had to reach the area by foot because there were no roads nearby, and they found no survivors, she said.
• UN police were guarding the crash site, where all bodies were recovered and would be taken back to the capital of Port-au-Prince, according to a statement from the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti.
• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "extends his heartfelt condolences to the family members, friends and colleagues of these brave peacekeepers who lost their lives in the service of peace," Montas said.
• Haitian police officer David Charles told The Associated Press that personnel from his convoy walked about two hours up the mountain but was not able to reach the crash site because it was on the other side of a ridge and a river.
• The victims were Uruguayan and Jordanian military personnel serving with the 9,000-strong UN peacekeeping force that has been in Haiti since a 2004 rebellion ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Montas said.
• The United Nations has began an investigation into the crash, Montas said.

Source: AP