Freeport Chartered Helicopter Shot, One Injured

A chartered helicopter carrying PT Freeport employees from Tembagapura to Timika was shot by unidentified men on Saturday and wounded a Philippine man.

The victim of the shooting is known as Mery Jeans Mather from Philippine. Currently he is being treated at the Kuala Kencana Timika Clinic, Papua.

Freeport

Mery was reported shot in the hand while he was riding the Nauglive Mil 8 ER SFM helicopter carrying employees of PT Freeport Tembagapura to Timika, on Saturday at around 8:25 CDT.

The information collected by ANTARA in Timika, said that the helicopter's pilot was a Russian citizen, Igor Kayazev, the copilot was Vlandimil Tsykin and assisted by an engineer Sergey Alexsadroveh.

Moment after taking off from Tembagapura, precisely around Kampung Kimbeli, the helicopter was shot seven times. The helicopter was shot on the side mirror near the upper door, the tail and propeller by an unknown person.

The spokesman of PT Freeport Indonesia, Ramdani Sirait, confirmed the incident. According to Ramdani, a passenger in the helicopter suffered minor injuries due to the shooting incident. He said that the incident is  currently under police investigation.

Meanwhile, Head of Civil Aviation at the Mimika Department of Transportation, Communication and Information, John Rettob, said that three passengers of the PT Freeport chartered helicopter were also injured because hit by glass splinters.

Source: Analisa