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2012-06-10 10:16

Missing Koreans presumed dead in chopper crash: officials


Officials of Samsung C&T Corporation seek updates, Sunday, on three workers who went missing after a helicopter crash in Peru last week. Media reports indicate that all 14 people on board are presumed to have been killed.
/ Yonhap

CUSCO, Peru (Yonhap) -- Eight Koreans who went missing after their helicopter crashed into a mountain in Peru last week are presumed to have been killed, officials said Saturday.

The Peruvian military and police conducted an aerial search and discovered the wreckage of the helicopter at about 4,950 meters above sea level near Coline in southern Peru, according to an official at the South Korean Embassy in Lima.

All 14 people on board, including the South Koreans and the pilot, are presumed to have been killed in the crash, the official quoted a Peruvian police official as saying.

In a phone call, Peruvian Interior Minister Wilber Calle also told South Korean Ambassador to Lima Park Hee-kwon the missing helicopter was found broken in two pieces after apparently crashing into a rock face, and there appeared to be no survivors, the embassy official said on condition of anonymity.

An overland rescue team of Peruvian police officers located the wreckage of the ill-fated helicopter from a distance of about 1 kilometer, as they could not go nearer due to rough terrain and bad weather, the official said.

Peruvian rescue officials plan to resume their search for the missing people after daybreak Sunday, the official added.

The helicopter went missing Wednesday while returning from a trip to a potential hydropower plant site near Mazuco in southeastern Peru. The South Koreans on board were employees of Samsung C&T, the Korea Water Resources Corp., the Korea Engineering Consultants Corp. and Seoyeong Engineering. (Yonhap)



관련 한글 기사


페루 정부 "실종 헬기 탑승자 전원 사망"

내일부터 현장 시신수습 작업 착수

페루 정부가 9일(현지시간) 연락이 두절된 지 나흘만에 고산지역에서 잔해로 발견된 실종 헬기 탑승자 전원이 사망했다는 것을 사실상 확인했다.

윌베르 카예 페루 내무장관은 이날 오후 박희권 주 페루 한국대사와 전화통화에서 "(실종) 헬기가 암벽에 부딪혀 두 동강이 났다. 생존자가 없는 것으로 보인다"고 말했다고 한국대사관 관계자가 밝혔다.

카예 내무장관은 이어 "(사고가 난 곳의) 위치가 험준해 접근이 어렵다. 시신수습 등 후속 조치는 내일 현지 사정을 봐가면서 할 계획"이라면서 "후속 조치와 시신 수습을 내무부에서 적극 협조하겠다"고 덧붙였다.

카예 장관은 실종 헬기의 잔해를 찾은 수색 헬기 조종사로부터 이같은 내용의 보고를 받았다고 대사관 관계자는 전했다.

페루 정부는 6일 헬기가 실종된 뒤로 오얀타 우말라 대통령이 직접 외교부를 통해 헬기 실종자 구조에 최선을 다할 것을 군과 경찰에 지시했으며 수색작업 책임자도 군 장성급으로 높여 수색작업에 총력을 기울여왔다. (연합뉴스)


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