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Three folks had been killed and one was critically injured after a helicopter carrying Nationwide Guard members and a Border Patrol agent crashed in southern Texas on Friday whereas following individuals who had been crossing the border with Mexico, officers stated.
The helicopter, which crashed at 2:50 p.m., was conducting an operation close to Rio Grande Metropolis, in response to Joint Activity Drive North, an operation underneath the Protection Division that helps Customs and Border Safety with Nationwide Guard models.
Two of the useless had been troopers, and the third was a Border Patrol agent, Joint Activity Drive North stated in an announcement, including that it will not share the names of the victims as a result of their households had not been notified. The Nationwide Guard confirmed in a statement that its members on board had been a part of the Military Nationwide Guard.
The reason for the crash was underneath investigation.
The plane was a UH-72 Lakota, the assertion stated. That mannequin has served because the U.S. Military’s gentle utility helicopter since 2006, according to Airbus, the producer.
The helicopter was being operated by the Nationwide Guard in assist of Customs and Border Safety’s mission to safe the southern border, Maj. Ryan Wierzbicki, a spokesman for Joint Activity Drive North, stated in an interview.
Joint Activity Drive North gives the command and management for the Nationwide Guard models deployed to the border on federal orders, Main Wierzbicki stated. The Nationwide Guard unit that crashed was unrelated to Operation Lone Star, the border program led by the state of Texas.
Nobody on the bottom within the space the place the helicopter crashed was injured, he added.
The helicopter was patrolling the border and following individuals who had been crossing into the USA illegally when it crashed in an open subject, stated Decide Eloy Vera, the highest native official in Starr County, the place the crash came about. He stated he was notified of the crash about 7:30 p.m. by the county sheriff’s workplace, which later supplied extra particulars to him.
Three of the folks on board had been males and one was a girl, Decide Vera stated, including that the Border Patrol agent had been stationed in Rio Grande Metropolis.
Emily Schmall contributed reporting.
