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CITY OF ZAMBOANGA: A Philippine Air Force helicopter carrying soldiers injured in a bomb blast landed in Mindanao’s Madalum City of Lanao del Sur, killing one of its passengers and wounding a crew member, authorities said. on Friday.
Major General Generoso Ponio, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, said bad weather was to blame for the incident Thursday afternoon that killed one of the four wounded soldiers and injured the crew member.
He said the helicopter was dispatched to the province to evacuate members of the 55th Infantry Battalion who were injured in an explosion caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) “while targeting the target” during combat operations.
“The four wounded soldiers were evacuated and were supposed to receive medical treatment when the helicopter pilot decided to make an emergency landing due to bad weather. A member of the Air Force crew was also injured during the accident, ”he added.
Ponio also expressed his condolences to the family of the “hero soldier”. It did not identify the death and wounded soldiers or the type of unfortunate aircraft, but other reports said it was a Huey UH-1H helicopter.
“We have done everything possible to save our wounded soldier as quickly as possible through our air assets, unfortunately the incident occurred,” he said.
The Philippine Air Force did not release a statement.
In September, a Sikorsky S-76A military helicopter also crashed in bad weather in Basilan province, south of Zamboanga, killing two pilots and two crew members.
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