14 die in Peru chopper crash
2012-06-10 09:43
Lima - Rescue specialists on Saturday reached a helicopter that crashed in the southeastern Andes, and there were no survivors among the 14 people on aboard, including eight South Koreans and three Europeans, Peruvian police said.
A police commander who went to the crash site, Raul Aybar, told The Associated Press that the aircraft "crashed into the snowy Mama Rosa and exploded."
"Everyone died in the initial impact because everything is burned and scattered," Aybar said after returning to the nearest city, Ocongate.
He said operations at the crash site had been suspended until Sunday because of bad weather and darkness. He said temperatures had dropped to minus-15 Celsius.
Peru's police chief, General Raul Salazar, told the Radioprogramas radio station earlier that searchers found "some parts of the helicopter that have been scattered up to 200m by the force of impact."
Authorities said the crashed Sikorsky S-58ET was found at an attitude of roughly 4 900m.
Police said a Dutchman, a Czech, a Swede, eight Koreans and three Peruvians, including the pilot and co-pilot, were on the helicopter.
Seoul's state-run Korea Water Resources Corporation said in a statement on its website that its vice president flew to Peru on Friday. A Samsung C&T official said his company also sent a team of workers to Lima on Friday.
The South Korean embassy in Lima said its nationals were exploring a potential hydroelectric project near Mazuco.
- SAPA
