Nine dead after military helicopter crashes with police chief & bank exec suspect onboard in El Salvador

NINE people have been killed after a military helicopter crashed in El Salvador.

Among those onboard were a chief of civil police and a suspect when the chopper of the El Salvador Armed Forces fell near the southeastern city of Pasaquina.

Nine people were killed in a chopper crash in El Salvador

The horror plunge took place on Sunday night as social media footage showed what appeared to be the chopper’s wreckage in the middle of the jungle.

Men could be seen scouring the pitch-black grounds with their flashlights.

On board the aircraft were Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, the director of the National Civil Police, and Manuel Coto Barrientos, the former executive president of the Santa Victoria Cooperative (Cosavi).

Barrientos had been turned over by the Honduran police a few hours prior in response to an international arrest warrant for suspected money laundering, local media reports.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has assured that the helicopter crash cannot be considered a “simple accident”.

In a messaged shared on X, formerly Twitter, he wrote: “It is necessary to investigate thoroughly and to the final consequences. We will ask for international help.”

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