A South African soldier taking part in a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Burundi has been shot dead, apparently by a colleague, the South African National Defence Force said on Thursday.
Gunner Elvin Mopani Hendricks (24) died in a shooting incident on Wednesday night in a military camp in Bujumbura, the SANDF said in a statement.
”A second member of the SANDF contingent serving with the mission in Burundi has been arrested by members of the South African Military Police Agency in connection with the incident.
”The circumstances surrounding the shooting incident will be thoroughly investigated.”
The defence force would not reveal further details of the shooting.
Hendricks, a member of 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment, is survived by his mother, who lives in Kimberley in the Northern Cape.
His body will be returned to South Africa later this week, the statement said.
Hendricks is the 13th South African member of the peacekeeping mission to be killed in Burundi, none of them in combat. – Sapa