A Saudi prince, along with seven others, was killed in a helicopter crash near the border of Yemen, BBC reported on Monday. Prince Mansour bin Muqrin was appointed the deputy governor of Asir province, bordering with Yemen, earlier this year.
The chopper carrying the prince, who was returning from an inspection tour of development projects in al-Saida al-Sawalha Center, went down on Sunday evening, al Arabiya reported. The kingdom’s interior ministry said the helicopter’s wreckage was found and an investigation was underway, Al Jazeera reported. The cause of the crash is yet unknown.
Prince Mansour was the son of Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, a one-time crown prince of Saudi Arabia and a former intelligence service director. In 2015, Prince Muqrin was removed from the throne by his half brother King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Prince Mansour was appointed deputy governor of Asir, bordering with Yemen, province earlier this year.
The crash came a day after the Saudi Arabia’s defence forces brought down a ballistic missile, fired from Yemen, near King Khaled International Airport on the outskirts of Riyadh. Fragments of the missile landed near the airport, but there were no casualties. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia on Sunday accused Iran of supplying Houthi rebels in Iran with the missile that was launched on Saturday, targeting Riyadh.
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