Afghanistan helicopter crash kills 17 Spaniards

A HELICOPTER belonging to a NATO-led security force yesterday crashed in Afghanistan, killing 17 Spanish servicemen.

Another helicopter made an emergency landing, injuring five more, according to officials.

The cause of the crash in the desert near the western city of Herat was not immediately known. Spain’s defence minister did not rule out hostile fire while an Afghan commander said the helicopters collided mid-air.

The victims of yesterday’s crash were the first Spanish troops to be killed inside Afghanistan.

A spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Maj Andrew Elmes, said it was too early to know the cause, but it was believed to have been an accident and not due to rebel activity. He said earlier that mechanical failure may have been to blame.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said preliminary information showed no indication that the aircraft was brought down by hostile fire, or of a mid-air collision with another aircraft. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the crash was caused by a sand-storm.

But Afghan army commander Abdul Wahab Walizada, whose troops are providing security in the area, said the weather was fine at the time, and the aircraft came too close to each other while flying and their rotor blades collided.

In Madrid, Spanish Defence Minister Jose Bono said 12 soldiers and five crew died in the accident.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero broke off his vacation in the Canary Islands to return to Madrid and meet with defence ministry officials, his office said.

Elmes said rescuers were on the site, recovering the dead and injured.

“We do not think the helicopter crashed because of enemy activity. We think it was an accident,” he said.

He said both helicopters were on a training mission to support legislative elections next month.

Spain has 800 troops in Afghanistan assisting the NATO-led security force.

An investigation into the crash is underway.