Benin army chief reported dead

The authorities in Benin have confirmed that the army chief of staff, Colonel Jean N'Pina, has been killed in a helicopter crash.

A defence ministry statement said that four other military officers were also killed in the crash, which happened on Friday in the Kokoro region, about three-hundred kilometres north of the main city of Cotonou.

The cause of the crash is not yet known but the ministry said Colonel N'Pina was returning to Cotonou from the north of the country.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service