Thirteen people died when an Indonesian army helicopter carrying construction workers to build a military outpost crashed in the jungles of Borneo on Saturday and burst into flames, an official said.
The helicopter was carrying eight crew, 13 construction workers and materials when it appeared to suffer engine trouble and fell to earth.
The Russian-made, Mi-17 aircraft was completely burnt out following the accident in a remote part of Malinau district, North Kalimantan province, said military spokesman Iskandar Sitompul.
It was just the latest deadly aircraft accident in the sprawling Indonesian archipelago, which relies heavily on air transport to link its many islands but has one of Asia’s poorest aviation safety records.
“Thirteen people died in the crash while the rest suffered burn injuries,” Sitompul said.
“There was engine trouble and the helicopter lost power,” he said, adding that it “fell with a thump this morning and a fire started”.
An army spokesman, Rukman Ahmad, confirmed a crash had taken place: “An Mi-17 helicopter was involved in an accident near outpost Bulan. It was carrying construction workers to build the outpost.”
