Venezuela military chopper crash kills seven officers

Defense ministry launches an investigation

CARACAS: Seven Venezuelan military officers were killed on Saturday when their helicopter crashed outside Caracas, President Nicolas Maduro said.

The chopper had left the Venezuelan capital in the morning headed for San Carlos in the country's northwest when it went down in a mountainous area of the El Hatillo municipality, the defense ministry said in a statement.



On Twitter, Maduro mourned the loss of "seven worthy officers of the country."

Venezuelan people! Today,#4May, in the morning hours, a helicopter of our #FANB rushed to land and 7 worthy officers of the Homeland died. I deeply regret this incident and express my heartfelt condolences to their family and friends.

— Nicolás Maduro (@maduro_en) May 5, 2019

They included two majors, three captains and two lieutenant colonels.

The defense ministry was launching an investigation into the crash.



Maduro was in San Carlos on Saturday, leading military exercises with top brass and more than 5,000 troops.

It was a show of strength against opposition leader Juan Guaido, whose attempt to launch a military uprising earlier in the week had failed.

Guaido was continuing his efforts to persuade the armed forces to abandon Maduro.