CARACAS, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Five officers from Venezuela's Bolivarian National Police (PNB), members of the crew of a police helicopter, were killed Thursday when their aircraft crashed in western Caracas during an operation to rescue two kidnapped engineers, official sources said.
PNB Director Luis Karabin said that the accident occurred Thursday morning at 7:30 local time (1200 GMT) in the highway Mamera-El Junquito, in a sector called El Naranjal, in the western region of Caracas.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but Karabin cited weather conditions. Some versions said the helicopter suddenly fell after crashing against high voltage cables.
Karabin said all the members of the crew died, including the pilot, the copilot, one technician and two policemen, adding local forensic team arrived at the accident's site to remove the bodies, according to judicial procedures.
He said that the helicopter was supporting the land policemen during an operation to rescue the two engineers who were kidnapped by several criminals from the state-owned electricity company Corpoelec.
He added the criminals were running away with the two engineers in a Ford Power vehicle and at some point in Antimano sector, a shooting between policemen and the criminals occurred.
During the operation, one of the criminals was shot and two escaped towards a wooded area, while the two engineers were rescued, said Karabin.
One house was affected by the spiral of the helicopter model Bolkow Bo 105 blue, which destroyed the ceiling and part of the kitchen, said Karabin.
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