Photos courtesy of AP and Bangkok Post
A Vietnamese military helicopter recently crashed in the capital Hanoi during a training exercise, killing 16 people and injuring five others, according to authorities.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about this fatal accident.
On July 7, a helicopter carrying 21 people crashed during a parachute training exercise, killing 16 and injuring five others, according to Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan. The dead and injured were all military personnel, he added.
“According to our preliminary investigation, the accident was due to technical problems,” Vo Van Tuan said. “The weather was good and I can say that there was no act of sabotage.”
FLIGHT FRIGHT
The Russian-made Mi-171 chopper came down early in the morning in the Thach That district, a rural suburb in the west of Hanoi, another military source said.
It appeared to run into difficulties before crashing to the ground and bursting into flames, an eyewitness said.
“I heard an aircraft making a strange noise, so I ran outside and the chopper exploded,” a local resident said. “The aircraft was flying low until it hit the ground and exploded.”
CRASH LANDING
While gesturing towards the cordoned-off crash site, the witness went on to say that it seemed like the pilot wanted to divert the helicopter from hitting the local market and houses, so it ran into a field.
Local residents rushed to help before police and firefighters cordoned off the area. The injured were later transferred to hospitals in Hanoi.
Exercises
Find words used in the story that are synonyms of the following words.
1. problems ………………….
2. meadow ………………….
3. aeroplane ………………….
4. hurried ………………….
Vocabulary
- copter (n): an informal word for helicopter, an aircraft without wings that has large blades in top that go round
preliminary (adj): happening before a more important action or event
sabotage (n): the act of doing deliberate damage to equipment, machines, etc. to prevent people from using them
chopper (n): a helicopter
cordon something off (phrasal v): to stop people from getting into an area by surrounding it with police, soldiers, etc.
