|
 |
 | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | You are in: UK: Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | | Wednesday, 20 March, 2002, 07:45 GMT Debris falls from crash helicopter  The helicopter crashed on the side of a hill Debris from the Puma helicopter that crash-landed in south Armagh at the weekend fell as it was being airlifted from the area on Tuesday. An army spokesman said two pieces cut from the wreckage fell out of a skip being transported from the area by a Chinook helicopter. Marie Fearon, who lives beside the crash site at Jonesborough, said the debris landed within yards of her home. "As it was coming over the house it was swaying - it was very windy and wet," she said. "I had this awful feeling that it was going to come down on top of the house and all of a sudden these little pieces began to fall out of it." Fatalities On Tuesday night, Newry and Mourne Council passed a motion calling for the immediate cessation of all military flight in south Armagh. Both the SDLP and Sinn Fein supported the motion which was passed at a meeting in Newry. The council meeting heard concerns that it was only a matter of time before such an accident would lead to fatalities on the ground.
Sinn Fein councillor Pat McGinn said local people had "had enough". "It is a clear indication that the south Armagh community are not prepared any longer to tolerate this unnecessary and uncalled for British military activity." Five soldiers and two civilians were injured, two of them seriously, when the helicopter was forced to land on the side of a hill at Slieve Gullion. Two people are still seriously ill in hospital. There had been three crew members and six passengers on board. A team of investigators have searched the wreckage and the surrounding area. The helicopter, based at RAF Aldergrove in County Antrim, had been on a routine flight between security force bases in south Armagh. | |
See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Northern Ireland stories now:  Links to more Northern Ireland stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Links to more Northern Ireland stories |
 | | ^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII|News Sources|Privacy  |
E-mail this story to a friend