Colorado-based Zimbabwean opposition leader among 5 killed in helicopter crash
Authorities in the U.S. state of New Mexico say key Zimbabwean opposition leader Roy Bennett has been killed in a helicopter crash.
State Police Lt. Elizabeth Armijo confirmed Bennett’s death Thursday, a day after a helicopter carrying him and five others went down in a mountainous rural area of northern New Mexico.
Bennett lived in Colorado, according to the New Mexico State Police.
Also killed in the crash was Bennett’s wife, Eileen; Charles Ryland Burnett of Houston; co-pilot Paul Cobb of Conroe, Texas; and pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd of Trinidad.
According to flight information, the helicopter was traveling from Raton, NM to Folsom, NM. ( MAP )
Obert Gutu, spokesman for the MDC-T opposition party, said the loss of Bennett, a white man who spoke fluent Shona and drew the wrath of former President Robert Mugabe, was tragic.
The crash killed five and injured a sixth person aboard. The helicopter went down about 6 p.m. Wednesday near the Colorado state line.
Armijo said no additional information was immediately available about the circumstances of the crash.
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Authorities say five people have died and one was seriously injured after a helicopter crashed in northern New Mexico.
Lt. Elizabeth Armijo of the New Mexico State Police says six people were aboard the helicopter Wednesday evening when it went down in a mountainous area but that no additional information was immediately available about the victims or circumstances of the crash.
The helicopter crashed about 15 miles east of the small city of Raton near the Colorado state line.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the helicopter was a Huey UH-1. He says information on its registration isn’t available.
Raton is 175 miles (282 kilometers) northeast of Albuquerque.
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6:35 a.m.
Authorities say a helicopter has crashed in rural northern New Mexico near the state line with Colorado.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the helicopter was carrying six people when it crashed Wednesday evening in mountains about 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of the small city of Raton (rah-TOHNE’), but there’s no immediate word of any injuries.
The New Mexico State Police said several hours after the crash that “response and rescue attempts” were ongoing but slow, and the agency did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for updated information.
FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford says the agency did not have information about the ownership of the helicopter or its departure point or destination.
Raton is 175 miles (282 kilometers) northeast of Albuquerque.
