Shadows Over Ndola: Death of Dag Hammarskjöld

In 1961, a UN secretary-general’s plane crashed in the African night. The official cause: pilot error. The truth may be something far darker.

This episode of Unsettled: The Hidden Record investigates the mysterious death of Dag Hammarskjöld, whose plane went down near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), while he was en route to broker peace during the Congo Crisis. Witnesses reported gunfire in the sky. Intelligence files later suggested foul play.

British and American agencies had interest in suppressing Hammarskjöld’s peace negotiations, which threatened Western access to the mineral-rich Katanga region. Over the years, buried documents, intercepted radio messages, and international inquiries have all pointed to a cover-up of an assassination.

This is the story of diplomacy in the crosshairs—and the quiet extinguishing of a voice for global peace.