ID :
196009
Wed, 07/20/2011 - 09:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/196009
The shortlink copeid
Rescue mission continuing after two Thai army helicopter crash
PETCHABURI, July 20 (TNA) - At least some 70 additional Thai troops have been dispatched for a relentless rescue operation after an army helicopter crashed in Kaeng Krajan National Park in the country's upper southern Petchaburi Province last Saturday, killing all five officers on board, and another army Blackhawk helicopter, with nine people on board, has been missing during its mission on Tuesday morning to retrieve the five bodies of last weekend's crash.
Royal Thai Army Spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd told reporters Thai Army Commander-in-Chief General Prayuth Chan-o-cha had ordered that two teams of troops be sent out in different directions in their rescue mission by foot to retrieve the five bodies and to search for the missing Blackhawk.
Colonel Sansern said that the army chief had particularly instructed the rescue team in charge of searching for the missing Blackhawk to thoroughly survey the area where the ill-fated helicopter lost contacts from an aviation control centre, some two kilometres farther from last Saturday's crash site, in an optimistic hope for any survivor.
The on-foot rescue operation of the two Thai infantry teams began this morning, with each officer packed with at least five kilograms of food supply, and is expected to take some five days to complete the official mission.
The Blackhawk, one in only six acquired by the Royal Thai Army, was initially believed to have crashed as there was an explosion in the area. Major General Tawan Ruangsri, Commander of the 9th Infantry Division, two pilots, six other army officers and a cameraman of the military-supervised TV Channel 5 in Bangkok were reportedly on board the disappearing Blackhawk. (TNA)
Royal Thai Army Spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd told reporters Thai Army Commander-in-Chief General Prayuth Chan-o-cha had ordered that two teams of troops be sent out in different directions in their rescue mission by foot to retrieve the five bodies and to search for the missing Blackhawk.
Colonel Sansern said that the army chief had particularly instructed the rescue team in charge of searching for the missing Blackhawk to thoroughly survey the area where the ill-fated helicopter lost contacts from an aviation control centre, some two kilometres farther from last Saturday's crash site, in an optimistic hope for any survivor.
The on-foot rescue operation of the two Thai infantry teams began this morning, with each officer packed with at least five kilograms of food supply, and is expected to take some five days to complete the official mission.
The Blackhawk, one in only six acquired by the Royal Thai Army, was initially believed to have crashed as there was an explosion in the area. Major General Tawan Ruangsri, Commander of the 9th Infantry Division, two pilots, six other army officers and a cameraman of the military-supervised TV Channel 5 in Bangkok were reportedly on board the disappearing Blackhawk. (TNA)
