(Newsday) Liberia - A U.N. helicopter crashed Friday on a routine flight in northern Liberia, killing two crew members and leaving a third missing, the United Nations said.
No peacekeepers were known to be aboard the MI-8 cargo aircraft, the U.N. said in a statement. The nationalities of those aboard was not immediately known and it was not clear what caused the helicopter to go down.
The 15,000-strong U.N. mission grounded its small fleet of MI-8 helicopters in Liberia while Liberian and U.N. officials investigate the crash, the statement said.
A search and rescue team reached the site of the crash in Nimba County and confirmed the casualties, the statement said.
The U.N. has had peacekeepers in Liberia for years, helping maintain security since the nation's civil war ended in 2003.