Saturday, December 21, 2002

Seven German soldiers killed in helicopter crash

Seven German soldiers were killed on 21st December 2002 when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in a suburb of Kabul.

According to witnesses, the Sikorsky helicopter nose-dived out of the sky with flames coming from the engine.

It is thought that the crash was an accident, possibly caused by a technical fault, rather than the result of terrorist or enemy fire.

The seven dead soldiers were:

Captain Friedrich Deininger, age 53, serving with 25th Army Aviation Regiment
Lieutenant Uwe Vierling, age 31, serving with 15th Army Aviation Regiment
Sergeant Frank Erlich, age 29, serving with the Luftwaffe
Sergeant Heinz-Ullrich Hewusst, age 41, serving with 15th Army Aviation Regiment
Sergeant Thomas Schiebel, age 28, serving with 25th Army Aviation Regiment
Sergeant Bernhard Kaiser, age 46, serving with 15th Army Aviation Regiment
Private Enrico Schmidt, age 24, serving with 25th Army Aviation Regiment