BANGKOK — A Thai Army helicopter crashed near the Thai-Burmese border during a mission to retrieve five bodies from a previous chopper crash, authorities confirmed Wednesday.
The nine passengers on board — including army officials and a television cameraman — could not be accounted for, but the army said it was unlikely that they survived the crash, the Bangkok Post reported.
The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter lost contact with fellow soldiers around 11:00am local time Tuesday while flying over the densely-jungled border region, First Army commander Udomdet Seetabut said.
Soldiers waiting on the ground with the bodies of the five men killed in a separate crash Saturday saw the chopper plummet from the sky then heard a loud explosion.
Strong winds were the likely cause of the crash, the army said. An attack by Burmese forces was ruled out.
A search operation for the wreckage and passengers began early Wednesday, with soldiers approaching the area on foot, AFP reported.
“We have high hopes some would have survived,” according to Siriyon Phothibandit, a Thai official at the Kaeng Krachan national park near the border.
The crash occurred three days after another chopper went down in bad weather during a mission to collect about 35 soldiers who were on patrol in the park.