Death at Ndola

Abstract

This chapter presents the circumstances of Hammarskjöld’s death on his way to Ndola in Northern Rhodesia for a meeting with Tshombe in a plane crash that also killed 15 others on board. Preliminary findings and evidence – which suggests that this occurrence was in fact not an accident, but rather the result of direct impact by another plane in the air – is also summarized. The steps towards a renewed investigation decided by the UN General Assembly are presented, as well as the several rounds of UN investigations and their findings until the end of 2018. The insights available suggest that it can be assumed that the plane crashed as a result of another plane being in the air when it approached for landing at Ndola, possibly with active participation of mercenaries operating in Katanga.