{"id":2214,"date":"2021-09-20T09:23:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T09:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/?p=2214"},"modified":"2022-03-07T15:18:36","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T15:18:36","slug":"the-strange-death-of-dag-hammarskjold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/2021\/09\/20\/the-strange-death-of-dag-hammarskjold\/","title":{"rendered":"The Strange Death of Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (September 18th<\/sup> 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Crash site where Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld died<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mysteries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixty years ago today a plane crash occurred in the early hours. All 17 on board died \u2013 eventually. Among the casualties was the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld. The plane crashed on its third approach to land in Ndola \u2013 it was just over three years before Zambia obtained independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation did not begin for hours. Suspicions that Hammarskj\u00f6ld 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions remain, not least of which is why the United Nations itself tolerated such an appalling investigation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plots and Counterplots<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 prot\u00e9g\u00e9, Joseph Mobutu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 Mo\u00efse Tshombe. Lumumba was murdered on Tshombe\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaos<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, Mobutu tried to claim Lumumba\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Monument at the actual site of the crash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mediation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vacuum created by Lumumba\u2019s death prodded the United Nations to try to mediate led by its Secretary-General Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld but the task was nigh on impossible. Hammarskj\u00f6ld tried to convene peace talks in the Congo, but some protagonists refused to come. Hammarskj\u00f6ld offered a last minute change of venue. It was agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the evening of September 17th<\/sup> Hammarskj\u00f6ld 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 Hammarskj\u00f6ld 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crash and Aftermath<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 Hammarskj\u00f6ld\u2019s bodyguard. He eventually succumbed to his injuries in hospital. The other was Hammarskj\u00f6ld. 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 Hammarskj\u00f6ld\u2019s body has occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld\u2019s body was discovered at the foot of these stairs, kneeling as if praying. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Unanswered<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixty years after Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld\u2019s death questions remain unanswered. The site of the crash is a Heritage site in Zambia. Sadly it is operated very poorly \u2013 more a tourist trap than a heritage site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammarskj\u00f6ld died during the death throes of colonialism in what is now Zambia. It was a white supremacist colonial nation at the time. The \u2018investigation\u2019 reflected that. It did not begin until the morning \u2013 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 Hammarskj\u00f6ld remain unsolved 60 years later. Hopefully the new Zambian government will help solve the mysteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rich resources of the DR Congo were plundered, and not only by Mobutu. And then, there is the sad tale of Ndola\u2019s Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld Stadium, but that\u2019s another tawdry story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The DC-6B hit a mound like this in the dark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (September 18th 2021) Mysteries Sixty years ago today a plane crash occurred in the [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,19,18],"tags":[221,701,704,705,703,233,702],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2219,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions\/2219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fittedin.org\/fittedinwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}