Moldovan premier requests all support needed to families of those who suffered in aircraft crash in western Africa

Chisinau, 15 October /MOLDPRES/ – Prime Minister Pavel Filip summoned a crisis cell to the Government today, to find out the circumstances of the aviation accident in Côte d'Ivoire on 14 October 2017, the government's communication and protocol department has reported.

According to the recent info, while preparing to land, an aeroplane carrying cargo for the French Army, with 6 Moldovan citizens aboard, crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, dropping 500 metres to the landing strip. The representatives of the Civil Aeronautical Authority argue that the aircraft was in good technical condition and the crew members had a great flight experience. According to the Ivorian authorities, at the time of the accident, there were severe meteorological conditions, a storm with electrical discharge, in the area adjacent to the landing site. As a result of the aviation accident, four Moldovan citizens died and two were injured, being hospitalized. Their lives are out of danger.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister expressed his condolences and solidarity with the families of those who died after the tragic accident, noting that the state authorities would take all necessary measures to repatriate the Moldovan citizens who died after the accident. "Please, be in constant touch with relatives of the deceased and those who suffered and are hospitalized, so that at any moment you can provide the info and all help needed", said Pavel Filip.

The head of the Executive also said that the state authorities were mobilized immediately after receiving the notification from Côte d'Ivoire, asking that a group of Moldovan experts travel as soon as possible to Abidjan to identify the exact causes that led to the accident production. In this context, Deputy Prime Minister, Andrei Galbur, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, said that the members of the crisis cell were in permanent contact with the Ivorian authorities throughout the Romanian Embassy in Senegal and the Embassy of Moldova in Paris.

At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister Pavel Filip demanded that all necessary efforts be made to conduct the accident investigation in strict compliance with international standards imposed by ICAO, in close cooperation with the authorities of the state where it occurred, attracting representatives of the constructor and aircraft manufacturer.