Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
November 14, 2015
Slovak officials say eight people, including seven Afghan migrants, died earlier this week in the crash of a Ukrainian-registered helicopter in eastern Slovakia.
Slovakia’s Interior Ministry said on November 14 the victims of the crash, which likely occurred on November 11, included a Ukrainian pilot and seven Afghans — five men and two women.
“The Mi-2 helicopter..flew too low in very poor meteorological conditions as it wanted to evade the air-traffic control system,” spokesman Ivan Netik said.
The Ukrainian border guard service earlier said the helicopter was “likely” being used by human traffickers to transport illegal migrants.
The helicopter crashed about 15 kilometers from the Slovak-Ukrainian border, which is an outer frontier of the European Union’s passport-free Schengen area.
The crash site wasn’t discovered until two days later because of thick fog in the area.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP