Irish Army personnel were first on the scene of the helicopter crash in which their colleague, Sgt John Lynch, and four other UN peacekeepers were killed in Lebanon last night.
Using special "illumination shells" to light up the sky, they surveyed the wreckage from the first fatal crash of a UN aircraft since 5,000 Unifil troops were first sent to Lebanon in 1978.
The Italian air force Bell Huey helicopter had come down in darkness in a valley about 500 metres north-west of an Irish observation post at At Tiri. Within minutes, Irish C Company commander, Comdt Joe Buckley, was at the scene with members of the company reserve.
Irish Battalion headquarters dispatched a medical officer with medics and two armoured ambulances, which were used to transport the bodies of the five victims - who were all declared dead at the scene - to the UN's south Lebanon headquarters at Naquora.
The operation was supported by the Israeli defence forces, which also fired illumination shells - each of which give 30 seconds of effective daylight - over the crash scene. Sgt Lynch (34), who had joined the four Italian crewmen on board what should have been a routine night-training flight, came from a distinguished military background and had been in the Army for 16 years. His father, Sgt Major John Lynch, has retired from the Military College in the Curragh. The dead soldier, whose home unit was the Command Headquarters at the Curragh, was an experienced UN peacekeeper and was on his fourth tour of duty in Lebanon, having previously served two six-month stints and one of 12 months.
His current 12-month tour was interrupted in June when, with Italian peacekeeping colleagues, he was kidnapped in Beirut by the Hizbullah and held overnight before being released unharmed. The three had been filming men carrying Hizbullah banners.
After a brief holiday at home with his wife, Rosario, and two children, Scott and Christine, he returned to resume his tour which was due to end in October. Sympathy with Sgt Lynch's relatives was expressed last night by both the Minister for Defence, Mr Andrews, and the Army Chief-of-Staff, Lieut-Gen Gerry McMahon.
Mr Andrews said it was with deep regret that he had learned of Sgt Lynch's tragic death. "I wish on my own behalf and on behalf of the Government to extend to his wife, Rosario, his children and all his family my deep sorrow on their great loss."
He said Sgt Lynch, like many of his colleagues before him, had made the "supreme sacrifice" while serving the cause of peace.
