Sixteen Colombian police officers have died in a helicopter crash in a remote mountainous jungle of Antiquita province, 280 miles northwest of the capital, Bogota.
The policemen aboard were part of a special operation to tackle members of drug smuggling gangs operating in the area, including the one of the leaders of notorious "Usaga Clan" gang, according to BBC.
#LoÚltimo Confirman la muerte de 16 policías tras caída de helicóptero en #Colombia https://t.co/kMQRjNXDR1
— CNN en Español (@CNNEE) August 4, 2015
Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said the accident occurred on Tuesday, according to Reuters. Two uniformed police officers were admitted to the hospital in critical condition.
The U.S.-made UH-60 Black Hawk reportedly crashed either due to a technical failure or bad weather, a police official said.
"We're in the middle of the investigation and the most probable thing is that the helicopter hit a hillside at 120 knots (about 180 kph or 112 mph), possibly due to low clouds because the helicopter was completely destroyed," Villegas said, according to EFE.
"If the helicopter was returning fire because it was being attacked, the other two (aircraft) would have detected that. But the experts are making a minute inspection of the pieces to establish if there is any possibility that it could have been attacked," he said.
Lamento profundamente accidente donde murieron 16 miembros @PoliciaColombia y 2 resultaron heridos. Nuestros corazones están con sus flias. — Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos) August 4, 2015
The helicopter crash came just four days after eleven Colombian Air Force personnel died when a military aircraft crashed in remote north, about 370 miles from capital Bogota, as HNGN reported previously.
