RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A Funai (National Indian Foundation) helicopter crashed on Sunday (8) in the Cruzeiro do Sul region (Acre) in the Amazon rainforest. Of the crew and passengers, seven people were in the aircraft.
According to Estadão, the helicopter was on its way back from a child rescue mission in the village of Ashaninka. After the crash, some passengers managed to run through the forest to the rescuers.
On board the helicopter were five indigenous people, including children, the pilot and a mechanic, who was taken to the emergency room of the Regional Hospital of Juruá with serious injuries. The pilot and the other passengers suffered minor injuries.
The Minister of Justice and Public Security of Acre, Colonel Paulo Cezar dos Santos, said that the pilot tried to make an emergency landing and ended up crashing in the middle of the forest. According to him, teams from the Fire Department and Samu (Mobile Emergency Care Service) were also at the accident site.
The helicopter was destroyed. As of the publication of this article, the cause of the accident has not been disclosed.