KHARTOUM, Sudan -- A Sudanese military officer says a military helicopter has crashed close to the capital of Khartoum, killing one crew member.
Col. Khaled al-Sawarmy said the craft, an MI-24 helicopter gunship on a training mission, burst into flames as it was taking off from a military airport. Few details of the incident were known.
The officer told the Sudanese news agency SUNA Wednesday that one of three crew members on board was killed. Al-Sawarmy did not say what caused the fire.
The crash comes days after an aircraft attacked a car near the city of Port Sudan, killing two people, in what might have been a strike against weapons smuggling. Sudanese officials blamed Israel.
There was no indication that the Wednesday helicopter accident was related to the airstrike
