Nine confirmed dead in fallen Thai military helicopter near Myanmar border

[News_Editor]

Nine confirmed dead in fallen Thai military helicopter near Myanmar border

2011-07-22 22:51:52 GMT+7 (ICT)

PHETCHABURI, THAILAND (BNO NEWS) -- Thai authorities on Friday found the bodies of nine people who were on board of a military helicopter that crashed this week near the Thai and Myanmar border.

Thai news agency MCOT reported that after four days of searching the deep jungle along the Thai and Myanmar border, rescue teams found the wreckage of the Black Hawk helicopter. All nine persons, eight soldiers and one cameraman from the army television TV5, were confirmed dead.

The helicopter crashed after it was sent to recover bodies from another chopper crash. The wreckage was located just 200 metres away from the first helicopter crash site.

Army Region 1 commander Lt-Gen Udomdej Sitabutr said during a news conference that the Black Hawk crashed with severe impact, scattering its parts widely, but there was no explosion. He said that wind shear was probably the cause of the accident.

Gen Udomdej said that Thai soldiers and officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation were attempting to bring the nine bodies back to a temporary helicopter pad in the mountains with cooperation from Myanmar soldiers. He added that it will take a while for the retrieval process.

The helicopter was conducting a search and rescue mission to retrieve the five bodies involved in another helicopter crash in the Kaeng Krachan National Park located in the district of Suan Phung, Phetchaburi Province last Saturday. The national park is Thailand's largest, and most isolated, and receives some of the heaviest rainfall in Thailand.

A team of nine people took off from an air base in the district of Kaeng Krachan on Tuesday morning at around 11:30 a.m. local time, but weather in the valley suddenly worsened. Two other helicopters - one from the Natural Resource and Environment Ministry and another from the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry - that were part of the rescue mission decided to turn back due to the weather conditions and landed at a nearby zone in the national park.

Thai authorities sent rescue teams to search for the missing helicopter by foot due to bad weather and poor visibility. The Myanmar authorities also joined in searching for the helicopter wreckage.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-07-22

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