HAITI: Four Spanish soldiers die in helicopter crash

Record ID: 382649

  • Title: HAITI: Four Spanish soldiers die in helicopter crash
  • Date: 17th April 2010
  • Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (APRIL 16, 2010) (REUTERS) CHILEAN AIR FORCE COLONEL HUGO RODRIGUEZ SHOWING PHOTOGRAPHS OF CRASHED HELICOPTER ON COMPUTER PHOTOGRAPH OF HAITIANS AT CRASH SITE PIECES OF THE HELICOPTER'S FUSELAGE SITE WHERE HELICOPTER CRASHED CHILEAN AIR FORCE COLONEL HUGO RODRIGUEZ SHOWING PHOTOGRAPHS OF CRASHED HELICOPTER ON COMPUTER PIECES OF THE HELICOPTER'S FUSELAGE HAITIANS AT CRASH SITE
  • Embargoed: 2nd May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Haiti
  • Country: Haiti
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA1IZRS7LI2QIL6OIFI3T18K14
  • Story Text: Four Spanish soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed into a mountain in earthquake-stricken Haiti on Friday (April 16), U.N. and local officials said.
    The helicopter came down in an area known as Gros Cheval near the town of Fonds Verettes in southeastern Haiti, not far from the border with the Dominican Republic, local Mayor Junel Jean said.
    A spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, said the Spaniards were working with the mission, but were not U.N. soldiers.
    Chile leads the UN team in Haiti and an Air Force Colonel Hugo Rodriguez said they immediately set off in search of survivors.
    "We set off with our search and rescue equipment and, after an hour and a half of flying, we found the aircraft crashed at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic," he said.
    Spain had 423 military personnel in Haiti helping with earthquake relief efforts, according to the Spanish Defense Ministry website. A January 12 earthquake in Haiti killed an estimated 300,000 people and leveled part of the capital Port-au-Prince.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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