Nine Colombian soldiers die after helicopter transporting supplies to troops ... trends now

View
comments

Nine soldiers were killed after their army helicopter crashed in a rural town in northern Colombian province of Bolívar on Monday.

A congressman is now raising doubts whether the Russian company that was awarded a $32.2 million contract to service military aircrafts is being honored. 

The Colombia military said in a statement the helicopter was transporting supplies to troops in the  municipality of Santa Rosa del Sur.

The area has been recently engulfed by an ongoing war between the National Liberation Army guerrilla group and Gulf Clan drug cartel.

Video footage on social media showed first responders at the crash site at a forest in the village of Guaraperia. 

Colombia armed forces general Helder Giraldo said Tuesday that bad climate conditions may have caused the crash.

"What happened yesterday is the subject of investigation by a special body in the case of this type of accident," Giraldo told reporters. "We do not know what the failures could have been. What we do know is that the bad weather conditions yesterday could have been one of the causes."

He added the helicopter, according to records, "was in optimal condition"