Air Force chopper crash-lands in Sarangani; 9 hurt

DAVAO CITY – A chopper of the Philippine Air Force crash-landed while on a mission to airlift casualties in the town of Malapatan in Sarangani province on Saturday morning.

“The 9 personnel (pilots, crew and soldiers) aboard the said helicopter suffered slight injuries and were already secured,” Capt. Alberto Caber, spokesman of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, said.

Caber said the UH-1D chopper carrying nine personnel was passing by Sitio Lamsalo in the village of Upper Suyan when it was overpowered by strong winds around 9:40 a.m.

He said the chopper was on a mission to evacuate injured soldiers under the 73rd Infantry Battalion, who had earlier clashed with communist rebels.

Caber said the chopper has yet to be retrieved from the crash site.

But he said additional choppers from the Air Force’s Tactical Operations Group XI based here had already been deployed to help in the evacuation of casualties and rescue operations.

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