Date : 14/01/2004
KUN0038 4 GEN 0333 KUWAIT /KUNA-SLP1
MIL-AIR-UZBEKISTAN
British UN chief killed in Uzbek plane crash
LONDON, Jan 14 (KUNA) -- A top British United Nations official was among
those who died in a plane crash in Uzbekistan, the Foreign Office in London
confirmed Wednesday.
Richard Conroy, the UN's resident co-ordinator in the country, was one of
about 36 people on board the domestic airliner which crashed in heavy fog on
approach to the airport in Uzbekistan's capital last night.
An airport worker said the plane appeared to hit approach lights and flipped
over, hitting the outside of a wall surrounding the landing area. No survivors
were reported.
Conroy, a 56-year-old British-Australian citizen, was the senior UN official
in the country and was based in Tashkent.
A Foreign Office spokesman said We can confirm a Briton, Richard Conroy,
the UN's resident co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, was among those killed in the
plane crash near Tashkent Airport. Next of kin have been informed".
The plane was an Uzbekistan Airways Yakovlev-40 which had been en-route
from
Termez, in the country's far south along the Afghanistan border, said an
interior ministry duty officer who declined to give his name.
An Uzbekistan Airways official in Moscow, Eduard Mirzoyan, reportedly said
36 people were on board. An airport employee said 32 passengers and five crew
members were aboard the plane.
The crash area was sealed off to the public.
Next to the landing area is a mixture of industrial buildings and open
spaces. It was not clear whether any buildings were damaged in the crash.
Several hours after the crash, the airport announced that it was closed due
to bad weather and that arriving flights were being diverted to Samarkand,
about 200 miles to the south west.
Termez became a major hub for humanitarian aid into northern Afghanistan
after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001 and aid workers and other
foreigners commonly travel on flights between that city and the Uzbek capital.
(end)
he.rk
KUNA 141317 Jan 04NNNN