World News | Two US military helicopters crash in Alaska, killing 3 soldiers

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (U.S.), April 28 (AP) — Two U.S. military helicopters collided and crashed Thursday in Alaska while returning from a training flight, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth .

Two of the soldiers died at the crash site near Healy, Alaska, and a third died en route to a hospital in Fairbanks, the Army said in a statement. A fourth soldier is being treated in hospital for injuries, sources said.

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The military said it would not release the names of those killed until next of kin were notified.

Alaska Army spokesman John Pennell said earlier Thursday that two people were aboard each of the AH-64 Apache helicopters at the time of the crash.

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The helicopters were from the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, near Fort Wainwright, near Fairbanks.

“This is an incredible loss to the families of these soldiers, their fellow soldiers and the division,” Maj. Gen. Brian Effler, commander of the 11th Airborne Division, said in an Army statement. Our prayers are with their families, friends and loved ones, and we are using the full resources of our military to support them.”

The military said the cause of the crash was under investigation and more details would be released as they become available.

The crash was the second involving a military helicopter in Alaska this year.

Two soldiers were injured when an Apache helicopter rolled over after taking off from Talkeetna in February. The plane was one of four flying from Fort Wainwright to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

In March, two U.S. Army Black Hawk medevac helicopters crashed during a routine nighttime training exercise about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, killing nine soldiers.

Healy is about 10 miles (16.09 kilometers) north of Denali National Park and Preserve, or about 250 miles (402 kilometers) north of Anchorage.

Healy is a community of approximately 1,000 people located on the Parkes Highway in Interior Alaska. This is a popular place for people to spend the night while visiting the nearby park, which is home to Denali, the highest mountain on the African continent.

Healy is also known for being the closest town to an abandoned ex-bus in the backcountry, and for the book “Into the Wild” and the movie of the same name. The bus was dismantled and brought to Fairbanks in 2020. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)