UNMIK/PR/93
Pristina-- A memorial service will be held tomorrow in UNMIK headquarters in Pristina and all five regions of Kosovo for the 21 passengers and three crew members who lost their lives in the tragic WFP aircraft crash of 12 November.
This will be a private ceremony for UNMIK staff. The press are not invited.
The victims were from the UN World Food Programme, UNMIK Police, UN Volunteers, several non-governmental organizations and the Government of Canada.
Their remains were flown to Rome for identification and restoration to families on 15 November.
"The victims were among the thousands of foreign aid workers deployed to help the people of Kosovo in the aftermath of the war which ended last June. I pray that this tragedy will not discourage the work of aid organizations, but will serve instead to increase the commitment of men and women of good will to engage in humanitarian missions throughout the world", said Dr. Bernard Kouchner, Head of the UN Mission in Kosovo.
The aircraft, which was carrying aid workers from Rome to Pristina, lost contact with ground controllers at 11:15 a.m. on 12 November shortly before it was due to land in Pristina and crashed on a mountainside in a mine-filled area northeast of Mitrovica.
Mr. Iqbal S. Riza, United Nations Secretariat Chef de Cabinet, will represent the UN Secretary-General at the memorial.
