Early on Sunday, eight Colombian soldiers lost their lives when the helicopter transporting them on a humanitarian mission crashed near the Venezuelan border.
President Gustavo Petro announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the soldiers were on a mission in the eastern department of Vichada.
The Colombian Air Force also reported that the helicopter was located after an extensive search in a rural area within the municipality of Cumaribo.
Images circulated by Colombian media depicted the charred remains of the aircraft amidst a grassland expanse.
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The Air Force has stated that the families of the deceased crew members are receiving support, and a recovery operation is currently in progress.
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Checks indicated that this incident marks the latest in a series of military aircraft crashes in Colombia this year.
In April, nine soldiers perished when their helicopter crashed in the northern region of the country.
Earlier, in February, a Black Hawk helicopter crash claimed the lives of four soldiers en route to an air base near the Panamanian border.
Also, five police officers died in a helicopter crash in the northwestern department of Antioquia in February.
While armed groups are engaged in territorial and power struggles with the military across various regions of Colombia, they have not been implicated in these crashes.
Some analysts suggest that deteriorating military equipment may be a contributing factor.
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