Cambodia says military helicopter missing during training
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The ministry said in a Facebook post that the helicopter went missing in the rugged Cardamom Mountains, which are cloaked in dense rainforest.
PHOTO: ANDREW MAURICE BALL VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
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PHNOM PENH - A Cambodian military helicopter has gone missing following an “accident” in bad weather in the southwest of the country, its Defence Ministry said on July 13.
The ministry said in a Facebook post that the helicopter went missing in the rugged Cardamom Mountains, which are cloaked in dense rainforest.
“A helicopter has lost contact with the headquarters of the air force... during training,” it said.
“The accident happened due to bad weather,” it added.
The ministry did not say when the helicopter went missing, what model it was, or how many people were on board.
But air force sources told AFP that a Chinese-made Z-9 helicopter with at least two people aboard disappeared on July 12 during a training exercise.
The ministry said rescue teams began searching for the missing on the morning of July 13, but the helicopter had not been found.
Cambodia bought 12 Z-9 helicopters from China in 2013 to boost its military capacity.
Four Cambodian soldiers died and one was injured in 2014 when a Z-9 exploded in mid-air before crashing into a water-filled quarry during military training on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh.
In 2008, Cambodia’s chief policeman Hok Lundy was killed in a helicopter crash along with the then deputy army commander and two pilots when their helicopter went down in bad weather. AFP
