The crew of an RAF C130 Hercules had been flying over rural parts of the province as part of a leaflet campaign.
The boxes of leaflets weight 30-40lbs, but are supposed to break open before landing in order to avoid injury. Usually the leaflets are supposed to scatter in mid-air after the box opens in the sky, but on this occasion, according to defence officials, it failed to open.
The Ministry of Defence said the incident, which occurred on June 23, was "highly regrettable" and was investigating further. The girl, after being hit, was taken to a local hospital in neighbouring Kandahar, where she died despite emergency treatment.
"Normally, if a civilian is injured, for example, in crossfire, British soldiers will take him or her to the British field hospital at Camp Bastion where the best possible medical treatment is provided," defence sources said. "In this case, we didn't know about the girl until someone came forward later, after she had died, to tell us what happened."
An MoD spokesman said steps had been taken to make sure similar incidents do not happen again.
No comments:
Post a Comment