7 Soldiers Died, Army Helicopter Crash

CARACAS – Seven Venezuelan soldiers from the Bolivarian National Armed Force have died in a helicopter crash near the Colombian border, military officials said.

The soldiers were deployed on anti-drug operations in the state of Apure.

In a statement, Venzuelan army said that the bodies were recovered from the crash site early on Thursday morning and a full investigation was under way, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

The identities of the dead soldiers were not revealed, the army officials said.

Two weeks ago, the BNAF deployed 15,000 officers to guard its long borders with Colombia, Brazil and Guyana in the framework of the “Centinela” operation, launched in 2009 to detect drug trafficking and illegal armed groups. – BERNAMA

Helicopter Crash