guardian.co.uk,
Associated Press in Jakarta, Thursday 4 August 2011
 |
| Rescuers carry a survivor of the helicopter crash on Sulawesi island, but he later died from his injuries. Photograph: AP |
A
helicopter chartered by an Australian mining company slammed into a mountain in
eastern Indonesia, killing all 10 passengers and crew, the head of the search
and rescue team has said.
The Bell
412, carrying two Australians, two South Africans and six Indonesians, lost
contact with authorities Wednesday afternoon minutes after takeoff from the
city of Manado on Sulawesi island, said Lucky Pondaag, an airport spokesman.
It was
heading to Newcrest's Gosowong Mine on the island of Halmahera.
A
search-and-rescue team discovered the wreckage in the early hours of Thursday,
said Ludianto, head of the operations, who goes by only one name.
There was
only one survivor at the scene, he said, an Indonesian who later died of his
injuries at the hospital. The bodies of the nine others have been transported
to Manado.
The
helicopter was chartered by PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals, a joint venture between
Newcrest Mining Ltd and PT Aneka Tambang, the Australian company said in a
statement. It was not clear what caused the crash.
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