’Copter toll 84

Press, 13 December 1982, Page 8

’Copter toll 84

NZPA-Reuter Managua The death toll in a helicopter crash in northern Nicaragua on Friday in which 75 children were killed has risen to 84 with the discovery of the bodies pf nine women in the wreckage, Government spokesmen say. The women were the mothers of some of the 78 children who were being taken from their homes along the tense border with Honduras to the country’s interior. It was not known if the crash was the result of an accident or whether the helicopter was shot down by Right-wing guerrillas opposed to the Leftist Government. Nicaragua has alleged that the guerrillas have been infiltrating across the border with the support of Honduras. Government officials said yesterday that the Sovietbuilt MilB helicopter had been carrying 78 children between the ages of one and four, as well as 10 women and four crewmen. The Nicaraguan Army’s intelligence director, Julio Ramos, said that the crewmen, one woman and three children had survived by being thrown out of the helicopter when it hit. the ground. Overloading had been ruled out as a cause of the crash, even though 92 people were on board, because the weight was 660 kg less than the helicopter was capable of lifting. The MilB is a big machine, able to carry between 24 and 36 fully armed soldiers.