the fate of the nine crews on board --including Maj Gen Tawan Ruangsri, Commander of the 9th Infantry Division and a local TV cameraman, remains unknown...Bangkok (ANTARA News) - Thai army on Wednesday assigned some 60 soldiers to march into a jungle along Thai-Myanmar border for rescue operation of a crashed Thai army Black Hawk and nine victims.
According to the latest report, the crashed chopper was located in Malit, Myanmar, one kilometer away from Thai border.
However, the fate of the nine crews on board --including Maj Gen Tawan Ruangsri, Commander of the 9th Infantry Division and a local TV cameraman, remains unknown.
The Black Hawk assault helicopter lost contact with the control tower and crashed at about 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday after taking-off some 20 minutes while trying to retrieve the bodies of five soldiers who were killed in a helicopter crash Saturday in the vast 3,000 sq km Kaengkrachan National Park in western Phetchaburi province on the Myanmar border.
The national park is Thailand's largest, and most isolated, and receives some of the heaviest rainfall in Thailand.
Thai army spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Thai army had also coordinated with the Myanmar army, the Tatmadaw, which has dispatched military patrols to search for possible survivors.
The rescue team started their journey early at 7 a.m. but it is expected the team would reach the destination within three days due to continuous rain and dangerous heavily-forested terrain.
According to Gen Udomdej Sitabut, Thailand`s First Army Commander, bad weather, including rain and strong winds in the valley, was the likely cause of the accident, causing the helicopter to lose stability and crash into the mountain.
Thai army has six Black Hawk helicopters in operation. This is the first to have crashed. (ANT)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
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