14 DAY TRIAL // Thirteen people died in a jungle in Borneo when a helicopter owned by the Indonesian Army crashed.
Army spokesman Iskandar Sitompul describes that the chopper is a Russian-built Mi-17 which has been in operation for three years. He mentions that several people have suffered burn injuries in the incident.
The aircraft experienced engine difficulties on Saturday and fell to the ground in Malinau district, North Kalimantan province, in a remote part of the jungle.
The area is located near the Malaysian border. Borneo lies between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei and the jungle still exists in a large part of the country. The crash site is one of many areas which can only be reached via helicopter.
Sitompul tells the AFP that the chopper burst into flames soon after impact. The victims were being carried to the Bulan outpost, where construction works were in progress. Army spokesman, Rukman Ahmad, confirms the news and the number of the victims.
The construction crew made up a large part of the casualties – eight workers died in the crash. The other victims are flight crew.
The aircraft was also carrying materials for the building site. The flight crew was made up of Army personnel.
The workers had been picked up in Apau Ping village before leaving for the outpost, local military commander Dicky Wainal Usman described.
They never made it as the helicopter smashed into a cliff, after the pilot lost control of the rotor blades.
An evacuation of the survivors of the horrific incident was carried out on Saturday and Sunday. Nineteen people were on board the military chopper when it went down.
Officials are still conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash, but The News International adds that rotor issues could have brought down the helicopter. The pilot also experienced bad weather on Saturday.