The Belgian national is said to have been part of a team sent to DR Congo last week
A Belgian IT specialist assigned to the European Union mission observing the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has committed suicide, AFP reported on Monday.
The unnamed man allegedly threw himself from the 12th floor of a hotel in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, on Friday night, the outlet cited diplomatic sources as saying on Sunday. Authorities in the Central African nation have launched an investigation into the incident.
An EU spokeswoman in Brussels told AFP that the union had been informed of the “tragic incident.”
“Our thoughts and sympathy are with his family, friends and colleagues. While the investigation is underway in Kinshasa, we cannot comment further,” she added.
The Belgian Foreign Ministry also confirmed the death of the man, who it said had been in the DRC “on a short-term mission.”
Voting ended in the DRC’s general elections on Thursday amid logistical issues and allegations of irregularities in the mineral-rich nation, which has been plagued by a protracted conflict with rebel factions in its eastern region.
The EU announced last month that it was canceling its observation mission for the former Belgian colony due to security concerns, but later deployed a reduced taskforce of eight observers in Kinshasa.