**Commentary** **Background** - Dag Hammarskjöld was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1953 until his sudden death in 1961. - Hammarskjöld was en route to negotiate a cease-fire between United Nations Operation in the newly independent Congo between their republic and Katangese troops under Moise Tshombe when his plane crashed in Northern Rhodisia (now Zambia), killing him alongside all 16 passengers. - Hammarskjöld backed Congo's elected central authorities, contrary to the support of several UN nations. - Moise Tshombe's movement was backed by big powers such as the [UK, US and Belgium](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-14913456). - Mr Tshombe was waiting to talk to Hammarskjöld on the night he died to discuss a negotiated solution. **Suspicions** - His death resulted in a [succession crisis](https://www.nytimes.com/1961/09/19/archives/hammarskjold-dies-in-african-air-crash-kennedy-going-to-un-in.html) - Before passing, one passenger reported [explosions] on the flight. - The cause of the crash remains [unexplained](https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/01/u-n-to-probe-whether-iconic-secretary-general-was-assassinated/). - Air traffic control had seen the plane flying overhead and had granted the pilot permission to land, yet minutes before the crash the airport manager decided to [close down the airport](https://newafricanmagazine.com/2768/). - It took over four hours after daybreak to start a search, despite reports of an explosion in the sky just after midnight. - The missing aircraft not found for a full 15 hours even though it was but 8 miles from the airport it attempted to land at. - Six witnesses also recall seeing [uniformed personnel](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-14913456) near the crash site that morning, even though official reports claim it was not located until after 15:00 that day. - There were reports of a [second plane](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-14913456) that appeared to follow Hammarskjöld's aircraft which remains unaccounted for. - Hammarskjöld had no burns, when the other victims were badly charred. **Explanations and Conspiracies** - In 1992, two men who had served as UN representatives in Katanga wrote a letter to the Guardian claiming to have evidence that the plane was shot down _accidentally_, by mercenaries. - In, 1998 South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, led by Desmond Tutu, published [eight letters](http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/0edbb4326e25c52dc5b4b3059ad5f9ef) that suggested CIA, MI5 and South African intelligence were involved in the sabotage of the aircraft. - In 2005, the head of UN military information in Congo in 1961, Bjorn Egge, told papers he had noticed a [round hole] in Hammarskjold's forehead when he saw the body in the mortuary. It could have been a bullet hole, he said, and it had been mysteriously airbrushed out of official photographs. - The [photographs of Hammarskjold after his death are either taken in such a way as to conceal the area around his right eye, or, where the eye is visible, they show evidence of having been touched up, possibly to hide a wound. - A US intelligence officer at a listening station in Cyprus says he heard a cockpit recording from Ndola, in which a pilot talks of closing in on the DC6 - guns are heard firing, and then the words "I've hit it".