Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, August 14, 2003
Seven Soldiers Killed in S. Korean Helicopter Crash
A South Korean military helicopter crashed into a rice field in the southern part of the country Thursday, killing all seven soldiers on board, police said.
A South Korean military helicopter crashed into a rice field in the southern part of the country Thursday, killing all seven soldiers on board, police said.
The victims included the pilot, a copilot, two crew members and three other soldiers, they said.
The UH-1H helicopter went down at about 11:50 a.m. shortly after taking off from a military base in Yeongcheon, North Geyongsang Province, about 350 kilometers southeast of Seoul, police said.
There were no civilian casualties on the ground, they said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
Yoon Woo-sun, a sergeant at Yeongcheon Police Station, said the wreckage of the chopper was to be taken to the military's Logistics Command in Busan, 100 kilometers away from this provincial city, for investigation. It may take several days to find the exact cause of the crash, he said.
The bodies of the victims were sent to a nearby military hospital, the police officer said.