Venezuelan army helicopter crashes in Colombian territory

A Venezuelan Guard helicopter crashed on Monday morning in Colombia's northern department of La Guajira, about 10 meters away from the border, and three Venezuelan officers onboard were injured, an official report said.

"A white Venezuelan Guard helicopter had a mechanical failure and hit to ground at 10:35 a.m. local time (1535 GMT) on the Colombian side of the border," Colombia's Minister of Defense Luis Carlos Villegas said in a statement.

According to local press, the helicopter with registration number EGNB742, crashed in the municipality of Paraguachon "about seven or 10 meters maximum" from the border line.

Minister Villegas highlighted that it did not infringe Colombian sovereignty as it was flying in Venezuelan airspace before the failure.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Delcy Rodriguez, said in her official twitter account that "the National Guard was doing a reconnaissance flight over the order points" at the time of the accident.

The crew injured were later rescued by Venezuelan authorities and then taken to Maracaibo city, around 120 km east of the accident place, for further medical attention.

"Adverse weather conditions caused this unfortunate accident. We thank Colombian authorities for their support," Rodriguez added.

The Colombian Minister of Defense promised that they would "proceed with all diplomatic means with the government of Venezuela to establish what to do with the helicopter wreckage that are on the Colombian side of the border."

Colombian authorities announced no further investigations have been launched regarding the accident.

Venezuela shares with Colombia some 2,220 km of border that has remained closed by Caracas since August 2015. Both countries recognize problems arising from smuggling, drug trafficking and the other illegal activities by armed groups in the bordering region. Endi