helicopter crash - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

Nigeria’s Access Bank Group CEO among six dead in California helicopter crash

SIX people, including the group chief executive of one of Nigeria's largest banks, were killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California, authorities and the banking group said. Six people were on board the helicopter when it crashed around 10 p.m. Friday (0600 GMT Saturday) near Nipton, California, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. Access Holdings said its CEO Herbert Wigwe, his wife and son were among those who died in the crash. "We extend our deep and sincere sympathies to his family and loved ones," Access Holdings Chairman Abubakar Jimoh said in a statement on Sunday,…

Feb

2024

By NATALIA A. RAMOS MIRANDA, ANTHONY ESPOSITO and FABIAN CAMBERO

Chile’s former president Sebastian Pinera dies in helicopter crash

WORLD

CHILEAN ex-President Sebastian Pinera died in a helicopter crash, sending the country he led for two terms into mourning and prompting an outpouring of condolences from leaders across Latin America. The helicopter carrying Pinera, 74, and three others plunged into a lake in southern Chile. The former president was pronounced dead shortly after rescue personnel arrived at the scene. The other three passengers survived. Two sources told Reuters Pinera was the pilot, although officials have not confirmed that, nor the helicopter's intended destination. Pinera often spent the Southern Hemisphere summers near the picturesque lakes that dot Chile's south and frequently piloted his…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Nigerian Air Force helicopter crashes in southern oil hub, crew survives

NEWS

A Nigerian Air Force helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt but all five crew members survived with only minor injuries, a spokesperson said. The incident occurred at about 0645 GMT shortly after the MI-35P helicopter took off for an operation in the oil-rich Rivers State, a region rife with rampant oil theft, Air Force spokesperson Edward Gabkwet said in a statement. The crew members are being treated at an Air Force medical centre in Port Harcourt, he said.

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Family of late basketball star Kobe Bryant awarded nearly $29 million in photos case

WORLD

BRAD BROOKS LOS Angeles County will pay the wife of late basketball star Kobe Bryant nearly $29 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations that sheriff officers and firefighters shared gruesome photos of the helicopter crash that killed Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter. "Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs Bryant's courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct," said Luis Li, attorney for Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's wife. "She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect." Li confirmed that the settlement was…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

3 peacekeepers die in chopper crash in Somalia

NEWS

THREE people died and eight others were injured when a helicopter operated by the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia crashed in the country's Lower Shabelle region, the mission said in a statement on Sunday. In the statement, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) said the helicopter, carrying eleven passengers including soldiers from Somalia military, was participating in training drills for casualty evacuation when the crash occurred. "Regrettably, three of the eleven passengers on board lost their lives. Eight injured officers have been evacuated to Mogadishu for urgent medical attention," ATMIS said in the statement. It did not…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Ukrainian interior minister killed in helicopter crash near Kyiv

WORLD

MAX HUNDER and TOM BALMFORTH Fourteen people including Ukraine's interior minister and a child were killed when a helicopter crashed in fog near a nursery outside Kyiv, in what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called a "terrible tragedy". Several bodies lay on the ground of a courtyard, their boots sticking out from under blankets, after the helicopter - described by the air force spokesperson as a French Super Puma - slammed into a building in Brovary, northeast of the capital. The crash caused a large fire, and an entire side of the local nursery building was charred. The Kyiv region's governor said…