UN mourns four peacekeepers killed in traffic accident

A traffic collision in Nyala, South Darfur, on Sunday evening resulted in the deaths of four UNAMID military peacekeepers from Sierra Leone. One of the four was critically injured in the accident and evacuated to Khartoum, where he passed away early Monday morning. In a later report on the incident, press in Sierra Leone quoted the Sierra Leone Deputy Chief of Defence Staff as saying that the peacekeepers were riding in the first escort vehicle of a convoy for a top UNAMID official when their vehicle was struck by a ten-ton truck. The driver of the truck attempted to run but was arrested.The Concord Times of Freetown, Sierra Leone, identified the four soldiers by name and rank. It reported that the Sierra Leonean peacekeepers were part of a unit assigned to provide armed security escort to the UNAMID deputy joint special representative, Mohamed Yonis, who was visiting the Kalma IDP camp in Nyala when the fatal incident occurred. UNAMID stated on the day after the incident that Yonis went to pay his respects to the Sierra Leonean troops in Nyala.

The UN Secretary-General was saddened by the recent deaths of four peacekeepers in Darfur and sent his condolences to the Sierra Leonean Government and to the families of the four soldiers, according to UN news media.