Incident
While cruising at an altitude of 11,000 feet on a flight from Dakar, Senegal, to Agadir, Morocco, the aircraft was struck by a SAM-7 surface-to-air missile. The impact caused an engine to detach, and the aircraft lost control and entered a dive. It subsequently crashed in a desert area near Bir Moghreïn, a remote town in southeastern Mauritania near the border with Western Sahara and Algeria.
Casualties
All five occupants of the aircraft were killed in the crash. The occupants were traveling on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to Agadir for work purposes. No further details about the individuals have been released.
Cause
According to official investigation findings, the aircraft was shot down by a SAM-7 surface-to-air missile fired by soldiers of the Front Polisario, the Western Sahara independence movement.