Five dead as helicopter used by Bolivian president crashes

Jul 21, 2008, 16:18 GMT

La Paz - Four Venezuelan pilots and one Bolivian died as a helicopter that was frequently used by Bolivian President Evo Morales crashed, Bolivian Defence Minister Walker San Miguel said Monday.

The helicopter - a Super Puma model belonging to the Venezuelan Air Force - crashed as it was going from Cochabamba a Cobija in the Amazonian province of Pando, about 1,232 kilometres north of La Paz. The accident took place in Colomi, in the province of Cochabamba.

'President Evo Morales travelled yesterday (Sunday) on that machine from the Huanuni to the city of Oruro. Today we had planned that he went from Cobija to the town of Blanca Flor, in the province of Pando, in the same helicopter,' San Miguel explained.

Venezuela gives Bolivia the French-built Super Puma helicopters with a capacity for 20 people, to be used by Morales in his travels around Bolivia.

The helicopter had left the air base at Cochabamba at 1902 GMT. It last made contact with air traffic controllers 11 minutes later, from an altitude of some 15,000 feet at Colomi. A peasant found the wreckage and the bodies late Sunday, San Miguel said.

In June last year, another Venezuelan Super Puma crashed near Cochabamba, killing one Venezuelan and three Bolivians.