Military helicopter crashes in northern Thailand, killing 9

USPA News - A Thai military helicopter crashed in northern Thailand on Monday evening, killing all nine service members on board, including a senior army official, officials said. The accident happened about 10 minutes after the two-blade, twin-engine helicopter took off from the Khun Chueang Thanmikkarat Army Camp in the northern province Chiang Rai.

Villagers in the neighboring province of Phayao, which is close to the border with Laos, located the crash site in a field not far from the camp. An army spokeswoman said the rescue operation ended just after 8 p.m. local time when the bodies of all nine people on board the aircraft were located in the wreckage, which was fully engulfed in flames. Among those killed was Major General Songpon Thongjeen, who served as deputy Third Army Area commander. The cause of Monday`s crash was not immediately known, but Thailand`s military has experienced a number of aircraft accidents in recent years. Most notable was a bizarre series of helicopter crashes along the Thai-Myanmar border in July 2011, when a helicopter crash led to the crash of a second chopper which was searching for the first. Then a third helicopter crashed as it responded to the second crash. Seventeen people were killed.