Chile’s national police chief and 10 other people were killed on Thursday when the aging Panamanian government helicopter they were riding in crashed into a three-story building in Panama City.
General Jose Alejandro Bernales, director of Chile’s Carabineros police force, was on an official visit to Panama with his wife, Teresa Bianchini. Both died in the crash.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet rushed to Santiago from northern Chile when she learned of death of the 59-year-old Bernales and decreed three days of mourning.
Also killed were Chilean police commanders Oscar Tapia and Ricardo Orozco, Captain Mauricio Fuenzalida, and Tapia’s wife, Carolina Reyes.
Panamanian Interior Minister Daniel Delgado said five Panamanians — two pilots and three police officers — also died in the crash. The only survivor on board the helicopter was a police sergeant. There was no immediate information on his condition.
Delgado did not rule out that there may have been victims in the building or ground, and said all of the bodies of the victims in the chopper had not yet been fully recovered.
“Given the force of the impact, all are presumed to be dead,” Delgado said.
Civil defense director Luis Francisco Sucre said at least four injured people had been taken to the Santo Tomas hospital in the capital.
Hospital Director Gerardo Victoria said the four people taken there had been near the crash site, but they had suffered only from smoke or panic. All were in good condition.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.
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