8 senior army officers die in Thai copter crash

BANGKOK, FEB 25: A Thai military helicopter crashed in the western province of Kanchanaburi today shortly after take off from an army base...

BANGKOK, FEB 25: A Thai military helicopter crashed in the western province of Kanchanaburi today shortly after take off from an army base killing at least eight senior army officers on board, a military spokesman said.

Lieutenant general Lertrat Rattanawanit, deputy army chief of staff, told a local radio station that the helicopter which had 11 people on board, including officers from the ninth army division, crashed due to bad weather as rains lashed the area.

The helicopter crashed near the ninth army division base at Tha Manao in Kanchanburi, about 125 km west of the capital Bangkok.

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“The crash occurred just a few kilometres from the base in bad weather. This is quite a big loss for the army… They were making a routine inspection trip to see Thai forces stationed at different points along the Thai-Myanmar border,” Lertrat said.

Among the officers killed in the crash were the commander of the ninth army division, Sangchai Ratchatawan, he added.

The radio station quoted a rescue worker as saying that 10 bodies had been retrieved at the crash site. The ninth army division is in charge of border security along the western Thai border with Myanmar.

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