Army helicopter crash kills five in I. Coast

Five people died when an army helicopter crashed in northern Ivory Coast, officials said on Friday.

The crash, which took place overnight Thursday to Friday, involved a Mi-24 helicopter, the army said.

The helicopter had been on a "reconnaissance mission on the northern border" with Burkina Faso, near Togolokaye, a statement said, adding that all five on board had died.

The cause of the accident was not yet known and an investigation was launched.

The army in northern Ivory Coast has faced several attacks by suspected jihadists, especially on the border with Burkina Faso.

Last June, two soldiers and a gendarme died in the Togolokaye region, after having run over an explosive device.

Fourteen soldiers were killed in June 2020 in an attack at Kafolo and in the same locality, three other soldiers were killed last March.