Death toll of Indonesian army copper crash rises to 13, investigation underway
Xinhua, March 21, 2016 Adjust font size:
The death toll of Indonesian army helicopter crash in Poso of Sulawesi rose to 13 on Monday as a probe into the accident and search for the black box are underway, military spokesman said here.
"One body was pulled out from the wreckage today (Monday), bringing the death toll to 13 now," Indonesian Armed Forces Spokesman Colonel Berlin G. told Xinhua by phone.
The Bell 412 EP chopper with 13 people on board crashed at 17:55 p.m. local time in Kasiguncu village of Poso on Sunday when it was conducting a routine task, Colonel I Made Sutia, spokesman of the military command in Sulawesi province, has told Xinhua via phone.
Twelve bodies, most of them high-ranking military officers, were discovered after the crash, according to Berlin.
The spokesman said that a team has been dispatched to the scene to investigate the accident and efforts to look for the black box of the copper are under way now.
The colonel ruled out the possibility of militant strikes as the cause of the accident in the area where Indonesian police and military have been conducting military operation to pursue the country's most-wanted high profile terrorist figure Santoso. Endit