A civilian helicopter went down on takeoff from Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 16 contractors and injuring five others, NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed. No military personnel were among the casualties.
ISAF said the cause of the accident was undetermined but ruled out enemy fire. Russian news agencies identified the aircraft as a Mi-8 helicopter operated by the Russian company Vertikal-1.
A Russian diplomat in Kabul told Moscow's Echo radio station that the Russian pilot, co-pilot, and a Belarusian engineer were hospitalized with serious wounds, while 16 of the 18 passengers on board died. The passengers worked for various foreign firms contracted to build facilities for international forces.
The crash was the second involving a civilian aircraft in Afghanistan within a week. The previous Tuesday, a contractor-carrying helicopter went down in Helmand Province, killing six people on board and a child on the ground.
International forces in Afghanistan rely heavily on civilian helicopter operators to move personnel and supplies to remote outposts. Around 90,000 foreign troops were deployed in the country at the time.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in July 2009, in its own words.