Two killed in chopper crash

DILI (AP): A UN peacekeeping helicopter crashed at a remote East Timor town on Tuesday, killing two Portuguese soldiers and injuring three others, UN and Portuguese officials said.

Barbara Reis, the spokeswoman for the UN administration in East Timor, said the Portuguese military, French-made Alouette-3 helicopter crashed at Same, about 55 kilometers southeast of the capital, Dili, just before sunset.

In Lisbon, Portugal's Defense Minister Julio Castro Caldas said one of the helicopter's rotor blades struck the ground as it came into land on a makeshift pad.

He said the helicopter had been carrying three army mechanics from Dili to repair a vehicle. Two mechanics were killed. A third as well the pilot and co-pilot were slightly injured. The helicopter was one of four operated by the Portuguese air force in East Timor.