Helikopter SAR Korsel Jatuh dan Meledak di Tengah Kota
Helicopter Crash in the Middle of Residential Area, Killing All Five Crew
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
PERISTIWA mencekam terjadi di kota Gwangsan-gu, Korea Selatan ketika helikopter milik tim SAR yang membawa lima petugas pemadam kebakaran jatuh di tengah keramaian kota.
Helikopter milik SAR Korea Selatan tersebut akan kembali ke kantor pusatnya di Gangneung, Provinsi Gangwon, setelah misi pencarian 11 orang yang masih hilang akibat karamnya feri pada 16 April tenggelamnya di lepas pantai barat daya Sewol, seperti dilansir MailOnline.
Helikopter itu mengalami masalah teknis ketika melintas di atas Gwangju kemarin, di tenggara negara itu, dan jatuh menukik ke bumi, dan memicu ledakan hebat dan kebakaran.
Sungguh tragis, tak satu pun dari lima penumpangnya selamat.
Saksi melaporkan melihat helikopter terbakar saat mengudara sebelum menukik ke jalan yang sepi di dekat kompleks apartemen di kota Gwangsan-gu sekitar pukul 10:50.
´Gumpalan asap hitam membubung tinggi bersama ledakan keras," kata salah satu saksi mata. "Saya pikir itu guntur dan kilat."
Ajaibnya, tidak ada laporan tentang korban di tempat kejadian padahal di lokasi kecelakaan terdapat sekolah SMA wanita, meski ada siswa yang menderita luka ringan.
THIS IS the heart-stopping moment a search and rescue helicopter carrying five firefighters crashed into a block of flats in South Korea.
The chopper was returning to its headquarters in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, after a search mission for 11 people still missing from the April 16 sinking of the ferry Sewol off the southwestern coast.
But it got into trouble as it flew over Gwangju yesterday, in the southeast of the country, and plummeted to earth, slamming into a residential area in a ball of flame.
Tragically, none of its five occupants survived.
Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft catch fire mid air before nosediving into an uncrowded street near a huge apartment complex in the city´s housing area of Gwangsan-gu around 10:50 a.m.
´A plume of black smoke rose with a loud bang,´ said one. ´I thought it was thunder and lightning.´
Miraculously, there were no reports of any casualties on the ground apart from a female high-school student who sustained minor injuries after being hit by a piece of debris.
