Johannesburg - Angolan state radio has accused Unita rebels of shooting down a United Nations plane on Saturday with 14 people on board.
The passengers included three Angolans, two Russians, an Australian, an Egyptian, a Cameronian, a Zambian and a Namibian. Eight were part of the UN Observer Mission in Angola and two were employed by a private communications company, Dinacom, which was working alongside the UN, a UN spokesman said.
Fighting near the crash site in central Angola blocked the search for survivors yesterday despite appeals by the UN secretary-general, Mr Kofi Annan.