Farmer dies after chopper crash

2005-09-26 16:07

Johannesburg - A 53-year-old Limpopo farmer died when his helicopter crashed while he was assessing the extent of a fire raging on his property on Sunday afternoon, said police.

He was flying the chopper back to the landing pad on Dissiediepalekdie farm, in Modimolle, when heavy winds caught it and brought it down, said captain Johnny Thiyo.

"It didn't fall in the fire. Even the helicopter didn't burn," he said.

The farmer's son, who had been watching the helicopter, set off to investigate its sudden disappearance.

He found his father unconscious inside the aircraft, dragged him from it and took him to FH Odendaal Hospital in Modimolle, for treatment.

However, the farmer was declared dead at 16:00

Police were at the blaze from 13:00 and fire-fighters were called in to extinguish the blaze - one of many which have swept across the country since the weekend in hot, dry and windy conditions.

Modimolle fire chief Arrie Claasen said it was not known on which farm the blaze started on Saturday, but it had since spread to several of them.

- SAPA