Three expatriates operating a helicopter died Tuesday after the aircraft crashed a few minutes after takeoff in the town Kambove, in the Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reports say.
A French pilot and a South African administrator and a Polish executive in charge of security were found dead after their helicopter was discovered in a ditch soon after takeoff.
The aircraft, reports say, belongs to Boss Mining, a copper and cobalt mining Company belonging to Zimbabwean business tycoon Muller Conrad Rautenbach. The aircraft reportedly took off from the company’s concession in Haut-Katanga and was heading to Kolwezi, a town in the neighboring province of Lualaba, Francis Lwamba, a company security guard who saw the accident, told AFP.
Authorities have not provided details on the causes of the crash.
