Pretoria – South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members travelling in an Oryx helicopter came under fire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) while on an evacuation mission.
Confirming the incident on Saturday, the SANDF said there was an incident involving one of its Oryx helicopters, which came under fire whilst en route from Rwindi to Goma in the Eastern DRC.
“The pilot and commander of the aircraft suffered a gunshot [wound] on his finger and Ops Medic on the flight was injured in the chest and he is in a stable condition,” the SANDF said in a terse communique.
“The rest of the passengers onboard suffered no injuries and the helicopter landed safely in Goma.”
The SANDF said the Oryx helicopter was under the United Nations Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and was conducting casualty evacuation in Rwini.
The Oryx helicopter was en route to Goma when it came under fire.
