UK spy plane to help search for schoolgirls breaks down

Britain said on Monday that a military surveillance aircraft it had despatched to help search for more than 200 missing schoolgirls in Nigeria had broken down en route.

The plane, an RAF Sentinel, was deployed on Sunday after Nigeria accepted an offer of help from British Prime Minister David Cameron.
It was meant to join U.S. aircraft in the search for the missing girls who were abducted last month by Boko Haram.

“The Sentinel has been delayed en route by a technical problem which is being investigated,” a spokeswoman for Britain’s Ministry of Defence told Reuters. “We are currently unable to provide the aircraft’s expected time of arrival.”

Local media reported that the plane, which Britain had said would operate from Accra in Ghana, had been forced to land in Senegal for repairs.