The Strange Death of Dag Hammarskjöld

By Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (September 18^th 2021)

Mysteries

Sixty years ago today a plane crash occurred in the early hours. All 17 on board died – eventually. Among the casualties was the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld. The plane crashed on its third approach to land in Ndola – it was just over three years before Zambia obtained independence.

The investigation did not begin for hours. Suspicions that Hammarskjöld was targeted and murdered persist. By failing to secure the scene and investigate for hours vital investigative opportunities were lost and murderers, if indeed he was murdered, had plenty of opportunities to escape.

Questions remain, not least of which is why the United Nations itself tolerated such an appalling investigation?

Plots and Counterplots

The father of Congolese independence, Patrice Lumumba was dead. Secessionist and federalist warlords were vying for the prize, the mineral rich nation. In the background the former colonial power and its allies schemed to exploit the Congo without caring about the consequences. Lumumba, the champion of the Congolese had been betrayed by his protégé, Joseph Mobutu.

As with Fidel Castro and Cuba previously, Lumumba had been driven into the arms of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and then been denounced and punished for it. The treacherous Mobutu who had been conniving with the western powers captured Lumumba and delivered him to Katanga secessionist Moïse Tshombe. Lumumba was murdered on Tshombe’s orders.

Chaos

Later, Mobutu tried to claim Lumumba’s legacy. Chaos followed. It was inevitable. The United Nations had failed to protect Lumumba and led him to believe that he was not going to be safe with them. Mobutu bided his time, exploiting the violence to justify his own coup against Joseph Kasavubu in 1965. Kasavubu had been a leader of the independence struggle, but the differences between him and Lumumba were clear. King Baudouin of Belgium attempted to praise his ancestor Leopold II for developing the Congo. Only Lumumba denounced Leopold for the genocide and theft of resources that the Belgian King had inflicted on the Congolese people. The death of Lumumba coincided with power grabs and attempts to seize resources through secession.

Mediation

The vacuum created by Lumumba’s death prodded the United Nations to try to mediate led by its Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld but the task was nigh on impossible. Hammarskjöld tried to convene peace talks in the Congo, but some protagonists refused to come. Hammarskjöld offered a last minute change of venue. It was agreed.

In the evening of September 17^th Hammarskjöld and 16 others departed in secret, using a weird route. They flew secretly. Eventually they needed to land so they informed airport authorities in Salisbury (now Harare) that Hammarskjöld was on board. They were given permission to land in Ndola, then part of Northern Rhodesia. Permission was granted but by the time they made their first attempt to land, they were greeted by a strange situation. The airport was dark and deserted.

Crash and Aftermath

The same occurred on the second approach. They attempted to land three times. On the third approach the plane crashed killing all on board, but not immediately. Two of the 17 on board were not found in the plane. Both were a distance from the wreckage of the plane. How had this happened? If they were thrown out of the plane on impact or before, why were only to outside the plane. One was Hammarskjöld’s bodyguard. He eventually succumbed to his injuries in hospital. The other was Hammarskjöld. He was kneeling as if in prayer. How had he ended up in that position? It looked staged. Despite the importance of that flight and its passengers no credible investigation of the cause of the crash and explanation of the position of Hammarskjöld’s body has occurred.

Unanswered

Sixty years after Dag Hammarskjöld’s death questions remain unanswered. The site of the crash is a Heritage site in Zambia. Sadly it is operated very poorly – more a tourist trap than a heritage site.

Hammarskjöld died during the death throes of colonialism in what is now Zambia. It was a white supremacist colonial nation at the time. The ‘investigation’ reflected that. It did not begin until the morning – the crash occurred just after midnight. The plane had been flying for hours. How? Where had it refuelled? These and other mysteries of the flight that killed Hammarskjöld remain unsolved 60 years later. Hopefully the new Zambian government will help solve the mysteries.

The rich resources of the DR Congo were plundered, and not only by Mobutu. And then, there is the sad tale of Ndola’s Dag Hammarskjöld Stadium, but that’s another tawdry story.