Four Colombian soldiers died and three were injured today when the helicopter transporting them crashed on the way to an air base on the border with Panama, the Colombian Army reported.
The UH-60 Black Hawk aircraft “suffered an accident” while “carrying out an aerial movement” to supply the “Cuti Binational Military Base” located in the Colombian municipality of Unguía (northwest), about 15 kilometers from Panama, according to a bulletin released by the military entity.
The four deceased are Major Karol Felipe García, who piloted the aircraft, Captain Darío Bernal, Lieutenant Jhon Barbosa and Sergeant Javier Reino, said General Luis Ospina, commander of the Colombian army, on the social network X.
“Brave soldiers who unfortunately lost their lives in a plane crash,” added Ospina, reported the Europa Press news agency.
The three wounded soldiers “were evacuated to a specialized medical center in the municipality of Apartadó, Antioquia” (north), according to the army statement, which does not specify the condition of the survivors.
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 Gulf Clan, the main drug trafficking organization in Colombia, which also controls the land passage to Panama through the dangerous Darién Gap jungle, according to Colombian authorities.
Earlier, the Army had reported that it contacted the Panamanian authorities “to carry out verification in the area.”
Source: Ambito
