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Afghan helicopter crash kills 16 - Updated

by Babel-Fish | July 19, 2009 at 03:06 am

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A civilian helicopter has crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 16 people, a military official has told the BBC.

The helicopter crashed at the Kandahar airfield, Nato's largest base in southern Afghanistan, apparently as it was trying to take off.

Reports from Moscow say the helicopter was a Russian-built Mi-8.

The crash is the second of a helicopter in Afghanistan in a week. Six died in a crash in Helmand province on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines - The 10 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan had defied the government ban on deployment to war-torn countries, the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) said yesterday.

OWWA chief Carmelita Dimzon said the 10 OFWs were deployed to work in the Middle East in 2004 but apparently slipped into Afghanistan as illegal workers.

It does not look like it was shot down not at the secured Kandahar airport?

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Mudassar Nassar (not verified)

at 04:03 on July 19th, 2009

This is not news, if the dead are only Afghanis. If any American / British / Canadian soldiers killed then only this becomes a news.

Babel-Fish

at 04:18 on July 19th, 2009

I can not believe that 16 human beings died in a helicopter crash is tragic news, it is to me anyway. But are you saying no one in this news group would wish to read the tragic story because its nothing to do with the military. I really can not believe that's so.

albertacowpoke

at 05:05 on July 19th, 2009

The crash occurred on Khandahar Airfield, no Canadians aboard, so the CBC.

tallison

at 05:06 on July 19th, 2009

If you want to make a place bloody, spill some innocents blood.

albertacowpoke

at 05:15 on July 19th, 2009

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - 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.

Captain Ruben Hoornveld, a Dutch NATO spokesman at Kandahar Air Field, said there was no enemy involvement in the crash, which took place as the helicopter was taking off from the base, NATO's headquarters in the south of the country.

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.

albertacowpoke

at 05:17 on July 19th, 2009

No military personnel were wounded or killed, NATO said.

The Russian news agency Interfax said the Mi-8 was owned by the Russian air company Vertikal-T. Interfax said there were 20 people aboard the craft and the survivors included three crew members and two passengers. The discrepancy in the death counts could not immediately be explained.

The Mi-8 helicopter can seat up to 24 people, said Capt. Glen Parent, a spokesperson for the NATO-led force in Kandahar. Civilian helicopters help ferry civilian contractors and supplies to small military outposts across Afghanistan.

sara star

at 05:55 on July 19th, 2009

Civilian passengers...

No military personnel were wounded or killed, NATO said. Parent said the helicopter burst into flames when it crashed near the runway only moments after takeoff.

sara star

at 08:50 on July 20th, 2009

Two Russian pilots were among the five seriously injured after a civilian helicopter, contracted by NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), crashed in Afghanistan Sunday, killing 16 passengers, a Russian embassy official in Kabul said Monday....The diplomat said the Russians are the commander of the crew and the second pilot, while a Belarusian flight engineer is also among those seriously injured. They are undergoing treatment at a Canadian base hospital in Kandahar.