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Several killed as helicopter crashes in Panama City

by Sanjay Jha | May 29, 2008 at 11:56 pm | 125 views | add comment

A group of Chilean military officers have been killed as their helicopter crashed in Panama City. The fatalities included the head of Chile's national police, Jose Alejandro Bernales, and his wife.

A helicopter crashed into a supermarket in a busy Panama City neighbourhood, killing and injuring several people, Panamanian authorities have said.

Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro said visiting Chilean military officers were aboard the helicopter, and told a news channel that the crash caused "a considerable number of mortal victims."

Chilean diplomatic sources said the fatalities included the head of Chile's national police, Jose Alejandro Bernales, and his wife.

The helicopter, belonging to Panama's National Air Service, crashed in the neighbourhood of Calidonia on Thursday, starting a fire.

Civil aviation sources said that at least 12 people were aboard the aircraft, including three crew members.

Panama's Channel 13 television earlier reported a toll of four dead and two injured.

Firefighters were on the scene trying to extinguish the fire. The cause of the accident was not yet known.