A surveillance plane assigned to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti has crashed into a mountain killing all 11 on board.
The Uruguayan CASA212 aircraft went down in a remote area near the border with the Dominican Republic last night, 28 miles from the capital Port-au-Prince. It had been on a regular reconnaissance flight.
The victims were Uruguayian and Jordanian military personnel serving as part of a 9,000 strong UN peacekeeping force which has been in Haiti since 2004.
Rescue teams had to reach the crash site by foot because there were no roads nearby and found no survivors.
UN police were today guarding the site, in rugged terrain west of Fonds-Verrettes. All of the bodies were recovered and were due to be taken back to Port-au-Prince.
Spokeswoman Michele Montas said 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'.
Dozens of UN vehicles were parked near the main highway that connects Port-au-Prince to the Dominican border, unable to get any closer to the crash site.
Haitian police officer David Charles said personnel from his convoy had walked for two hours up the mountain but could not reach the crash site because it was on the other side of a ridge and a river.
He said he saw the white plane in the distance and a large piece had broken off.
UN ambulances headed back to their bases late on Friday. One driver said they had been ordered to return on Saturday morning.
The UN has launched an investigation into the crash. It was unclear why the plane was doing surveillance near the border or how often such flights took place.
The peacekeeping mission has been ongoing in Haiti since the rebellion in 2004 which ousted former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
