Five soldiers and three civilians, officials of the Risk Management Secretariat, died today in Pastaza, in the Amazon of Ecuador, when the helicopter in which they were traveling with humanitarian aid crashed. “Pastaza is in mourning and we are going to honor their memories, they lost their lives bringing humanitarian aid to the communities that needed it most,” confirmed the mayor. Andrew the Great after several hours of searching for the crashed aircraft.
The area is affected by flooding caused by rising rivers. The aircraft was carrying aid to the most remote communities of the Waorani indigenous people. After learning of the disappearance of the ship in the morningthe Ministry of Defense launched a search operation which hours later confirmed the worst omens.
The two pilots were traveling on board the Army aircraft, the major Andrs Octavio Sierra and the lieutenant Jaime Fernando Cordones, next to sergeant Leonardo Gutirrez and the two mechanics, the corporals Christian Morales y dgar Montesdeoca. The deceased civilians are the engineer Katya Aragn, of the Risk Secretary; the municipal technician Erick Reyes and the waorani leader Diego Ima, political lieutenant of Curaray.
The bodies will not be extracted from the crashed helicopter until Saturday morning, given the inclement weather that affects that area of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
“I deeply regret the tragic accident suffered by soldiers and public servants who were providing humanitarian aid in the Tiwino sector of Pastaza… The crew and passengers carried out this heroic mission in favor of Venezuelans,” the president reacted. Daniel Noboa.