SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Missing bodies found in deadly Colombia helicopter crash
Bogota, July 22 (AFP) Jul 22, 2020
The Colombian army said Wednesday they recovered two bodies from a helicopter crash in a jungle region where guerrillas are active, bringing the toll to 11 dead and six wounded.

The Black Hawk helicopter went down on Monday with 17 people aboard on a stretch of the Inirida River, in the country's southeastern jungle region.

The wounded soldiers, along with the bodies of nine of their comrades, were rescued on Tuesday, but two soldiers were missing, officials said.

The two final bodies were found and taken to the nearby town of Mitu, in the Vaupes department, before being moved to the capital Bogota, the army said in a statement.

President Ivan Duque earlier lamented on Twitter what he described as "an accident," but the army has not said if the helicopter crashed or was shot down.

The helicopter was supporting a military sweep against FARC dissidents -- leftist guerrillas who refused to sign the peace deal their comrades reached with the government in 2016, the army said.

There are some 2,300 dissident guerrilla fighters, according to military intelligence estimates, who survive thanks to drug trafficking, illegal mining and an extensive support network.

The area where the helicopter went down is known for growing drug crops. Colombia is the world's top producer of coca leaves, the source plant for cocaine.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Private capital targets mission-critical software power and platforms in new space economy
Maven stays silent after routine pass behind Mars
Uranus and Neptune may be rock rich worlds

24/7 Energy News Coverage
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus
South Africa's informal miners fight for their future in coal's twilight
China's smaller manufacturers look to catch the automation wave

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Autonomous DARPA project to expand satellite surveillance network by BAE Systems
UK's new military chief to stress Russian threat; Royal navy tracked Russian sub in Channel
Momentus joins US Space Force SHIELD contract vehicle

24/7 News Coverage
Indonesia flood death toll passes 1,000 as authorities ramp up aid
US agency wipes climate change facts from website: reports
Kennedy's health movement turns on Trump administration over pesticides



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.