9 Killed as Army Helicopter Crashes in Colombia

Nine soldiers died as an army helicopter transporting supplies to troops crashed in northern Colombia on Monday.

The Colombian military said in a statement that the helicopter was taking the supplies to the municipality of Santa Rosa del Sur, an area that has recently experienced fighting between the National Liberation Army guerrilla group and the drug trafficking group known as the Gulf Clan.

The military statement termed the chopper crash as an accident.

“I regret the death of the nine passengers on board the army’s helicopter” Colombian president Gustavo Petro wrote on X on Monday.

The Russia-made helicopter crashed around 1:50 pm local time. The victims included two officers, two sergeants and three privates. None of the passengers on the helicopter survived.