Indonesia helicopter crash kills 10

Chartered flight by mining crew hits mountain after leaving Manado, leaving all passengers and crew dead A helicopter chartered by an Australian mining company slammed into a mountain in eastern Indonesia, killing all 10 passengers and crew, the head of the search and rescue team has said. The Bell 412, carrying two Australians, two South Africans and six Indonesians, lost contact with authorities Wednesday afternoon minutes after takeoff from the city of Manado on Sulawesi island, said Lucky Pondaag, an airport spokesman. It was heading to Newcrest’s Gosowong Mine on the island of Halmahera. A search-and-rescue team discovered the wreckage in the early hours of Thursday, said Ludianto, head of the operations, who goes by only one name. There was only one survivor at the scene, he said, an Indonesian who later died of his injuries at the hospital. The bodies of the nine others have been transported to Manado. The helicopter was chartered by PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals, a joint venture between Newcrest Mining Ltd and PT Aneka Tambang, the Australian company said in a statement. It was not clear what caused the crash. Indonesia guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 3, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.