Blow to strife-torn country

Press, 22 October 1986, Page 10

Blow to strife-torn country

NZPA-Reuter Maputo War-torn Mozambique has begun 60 days of national mourning, stunned by the sudden death on Sunday of its founding President, Mr Samora Machel, in a stillunexplained plane crash in South Africa. After waiting all day as State radio played martial music, the country of 15 million had its worst fears confirmed when Mr Machers death was formally confirmed. The announcement came 24 hours after Mr Machel’s Soviet-built jet

crashed just outside the border as he was returning home from a one-day meeting with three other African leaders in Zambia. South African authorities had earlier announced his death, along with 28 others of the 38 people on board. Others in his delegation included senior Ministers and advisers. Survivors were reported to be in critical condition. The Mozambican Prime Minister, Mr Mario Machungo, told the nation that 33 people had died.

The crash was a savage blow for a country, economically crippled by years of unrelenting civil war, drought, starvation, cyclone, and famine. Leaders throughout the world have expressed shock and sadness at the untimely death of the fiery Mr Machel, aged 53, and widely regarded as irreplaceable. Ministers, officials and diplomats, from Pretoria to Washington, expressed fears that his passing would escalate fighting inside Mozambique. Right-wing rebels who

have left a trail of sabotage and bloodshed across the vast country vowed to step up their campaign to topple its Marxist leadership. Questions over the cause of the accident were raised in several centres. South Africa invited international aviation experts to examine the wreckage in a clear bid to demonstrate it was not behind the crash. South African forces have attacked targets within Mozambique on a number of occasions.