Five soldiers injured as military chopper crashes in Zambia

A small military helicopter has clashed in the early hours of Wednesday injuring five soldiers, two of them seriously, various online local media outlets reported.

The five soldiers from the Zambia Air Force (ZAF) met their fate when their chopper plunged in Gwembe district of southern Zambia after developing a fault, according to Mwebantu Media.

The five soldiers were later rushed to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, the country's capital, with two of the soldiers seriously injured.

But sources at the country's main referral hospital said the two soldiers were out of danger.

Pictures posted on various social media showed the mangled chopper and the injured soldiers being attended to.

The ZAF AB205 helicopter had five people on board when it crashed.

The ZAF helicopters are prone to frequent accidents, a situation that prompted the government to call for investigations into the matter. In May 2014, a ZAF deputy commander Major-General Muliokela Muliokela and his co-pilot Colonel Brian Mweene died when their SAAB MFI-15 helicopter crashed south of Lusaka during a routine training exercise.

This was barely few months after two other ZAF pilots died after their helicopter crashed in southern Zambia's Livingstone city while in March 2013, one pilot died after another helicopter crashed.

The government appointed a board of inquiry to investigate and ascertain the causes of the plane crashes whose outcome has not yet been made public. Endit