Abidjan, 4 February 2015... The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) regrets to announce the death of six Egyptian peacekeepers on Tuesday, 3 February 2015, in an accident on the motorway between Yamoussoukro and Abidjan.



Captains Montasser Hassan Abas aged 29 , Mohamed Tawfiq Mohamed Ahmed aged 26, Adjudant Samy Aly Ibrahim aged 44, Corporal Abdelfattah Atef Waly aged 23, Soldiers Mahmoud Galal Abdelfatah, aged 22 and Moamen Ahmed Abdelrahim, aged 22, arrived in the Mission in September 2014, and were serving with the military engineering company based in Yamoussoukro, situated at 250 km from Abidjan.



The six soldiers had left Yamoussoukro and were on their way to a mission in Abidjan, when one of the tyres of the vehicle they were travelling in burst, causing it to veer off the road.



Their deaths brings to 92 the number of peacekeepers who have died since UNOCI was deployed in April 2004.



The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and the whole of UNOCI present their heartfelt condolences to the Egyptian Contingent, to the families of the deceased and the Egyptian authorities.