 A Memorial
being laid in 1998
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The Hunyani Disaster
The
Umniati Disaster
Many thanks to Alice Stotter who provided much of the news cuttings
for this site.
THE
SHOOTING DOWN OF TWO AIR RHODESIA AIRCRAFT IN SEPTEMBER 1978 & FEBRUARY 1979 |
For many years
the Viscounts had operated a service every day from Salisbury to Kariba to Wankie National
Park to Victoria Falls and returning to Salisbury by the reverse route. It was on the last
leg from Kariba to Salisbury on the 3rd of September 1978 that Air Rhodesia Flight RH825
radioed a Mayday call. The aircraft "The
Hunyani" with fifty two passengers and four crew members on board was hit by
a heat seeking Sam 7 missile. It had been fired by ZIPRA men ..... terrorists, guerrillas,
combatants, comrades, cadres, freedom fighters, soldiers (depending on your viewpoint)
Half an hour after the crash a group of ZIPRA men arrived on the
scene. They then opened fire with their AK 47's and killed 7 women 1 man and 2 children
who had survived the crash.
Ten
died after surviving the crash. |
On the 12 Feb.
1979 another Viscount "The Umniati" Air Rhodesia Flight RH827
was shot down not far from the site of the first crash. This time all 59 on board where
lost.
The Rhodesia Herald..14/9/78.."The Soviet Union and Cuba gave recently 137 ground to
air missiles to a Zambian based Rhodesian nationalist organisation, Mr Bernard
Muvuti,
secretary for commerce for ZANU, said yesterday."
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