8 killed in rescue copter crash in Indonesia

A helicopter carrying eight passengers and crew members from Indonesia's Search and Rescue (SAR) Agency crashed on Sunday into a cliff in the mountains.

Major Gen. Heronimus Guru, the agency's deputy head of operations, confirmed to Anadolu Agency that the helicopter crashed in the hills of the central Mt. Butak in Temanggung on Sunday afternoon.

"It is true that there was a helicopter crash carrying four crew members and four rescuers," Guru said.

Guru said the rescuers were en route to rescue 10 injured by the eruption of a crater in the tourist area of ​​Mt. Dieng, Banjarnegara.

At least two of the bodies have been recovered, and the rest are still at the scene.

Guru said retrieval is difficult due to the lack of equipment and darkness.

Indonesia has a poor aviation safety record and has suffered major disasters over the last year, many of them involving air force aircraft.

In March 2016, 13 people were killed after a military helicopter crashed in bad weather on Sulawesi Island.