A
Colombian National Army helicopter
crashed this Monday on the way to an air base on the border with Panama, causing the
death of four people
, while three others were injured.
The moments before the incident were recorded in a video that quickly went viral on social networks.
The UH-60 Black Hawk aircraft of the Aviation Mobility and Maneuver Battalion No. 7, with registration EJC 2188, "
suffered an accident
" when “it was carrying out an air movement internal cargo operation to the Cuti Binational Military Base”, located in the Colombian municipality of Unguía (northwest), about 15 kilometers from Panama.
As detailed by the Colombian Army in an official statement, the four fatalities were Major Karol Felipe García, who piloted the aircraft;
Captain Darío Bernal Toloza, member of the 46th Voltígeros Infantry Battalion;
Lieutenant Jhon Barbosa Cruz, pilot;
and Sergeant Javier Reino, crew chief.
“For their part, the injured personnel, First Vice Sergeant Jhonatan del Río, flight technician;
First Corporal Alejandro Gutiérrez Trejos and professional soldier Galindo Suárez Prada were evacuated to a specialized medical center in the municipality of Apartadó, Antioquia,” the official report added, although it did not confirm the health status of any of them.
The area where the military helicopter fell is a stronghold of the Clan del Golfo, the main drug trafficking organization in Colombia.
For his part, General Luis Ospina, commander of the Colombian army, wrote on the social network X: "Brave soldiers who unfortunately lost their lives in a plane crash."
Although the Army
has not determined the causes of the accident
, a commission of experts is traveling to the site of the accident "to establish the circumstances of time, manner and place," the statement indicates.
The area where the helicopter fell is
a stronghold of the Clan del Golfo
, the main drug trafficking organization in Colombia, which also controls the land passage to Panama through the dangerous jungle of the Darién Gap, according to Colombian authorities.
Earlier, the Army had reported that it contacted the Panamanian authorities "to carry out verification in the area."
IS