The Indonesian Military has found the bodies of 12 victims aboard an MI-17 army helicopter that disappeared in June last year after taking off from an airport in Papua province’s Oksibil district, the Antara News reported.

MI-17 helicopter (Photo: AFP/VNA)

A rescue team from the Banteng Raider Infantry Battalion of the Cendrawasih Military Command in Papua managed to reach the location at noon of February 15 and found the bodies among the wreckage.

The recovery team’s coordinator Binsar Sianipar said that nine bodies can be identified from their clothes and attributes, while the identification of the remaining needs more time.

Given the bad weather and difficult terrain, he stated that the team was not able to recover the bodies immediately. The bodies will be brought down to a point that can be reached by helicopters, he added.

Thhe MI-17 helicopter with 12 people on board went missing on June 28, 2019 while flying to Okbibab from Oksibil to deliver supplies to soldiers stationed there.

(Source: VNA)