YAOUNDE, May 14 — A light aircraft crashed near a village in southeastern Chad early Wednesday, killing two people on board, the Chad Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed. Adam Mamadou Djibert, deputy director general of the authority, said in a statement that the aircraft, which belonged to the conservation group African Parks Network, went down near a small village close to the Zakouma National Park. “On board this aircraft, which was on an aerial surveillance mission for rhinos in the Zakouma region, were Charles Van Eden, a South African pilot, and Nicolas Hamid Taloua, an official from the Chadian ministry of the environment, nature conservation, and sustainable development,” Djibert said. “At 5:22 a.m. local time, the aircraft arrived near the village of Goz Djarat, where a rhinos surveillance mission was underway. Unfortunately, at 6:05 a.m. local time, rangers reported the plane crashing near the village,” he noted. Both individuals were confirmed dead in the crash. An investigative team has been dispatched to the site to determine the cause, he added.
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