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Helicopter crashes in Afghanistan, 16 killed
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-19 19:49 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: A civilian helicopter under contract for NATO forces in Afghanistan crashed at a military base in the south of the country on Sunday, killing 16 people and wounding five others, the alliance said.
Russia's Interfax news agency described the helicopter as an Mi-8 transporter, operated by a Russian firm, which had 17 passengers and three crew on board at the time of the crash. It gave the death toll as 15. The crash was the second by a former-Soviet civilian helicopter in southern Afghanistan in less than a week. Six Ukrainian crew members died aboard a Soviet-built Mi-26 transport helicopter which crashed in Helmand province on Tuesday. Moldovan authorities said Tuesday's helicopter was shot down while ferrying supplies to a remote British base. NATO troops in Afghanistan rely heavily on air craft from the former Soviet Union for cargo and transport flights in a country where travel by road is often difficult. The NATO force in Afghanistan has been expanding rapidly this year with the deployment of tens of thousands of additional US troops. |