Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has extended his deep condolences to families of military officials who died when their helicopter crashed during training in Ho Chi Minh City on January 28.

The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of National Defence to work with relevant agencies, units, and localities to quickly examine the cause of the accident.

Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army said the cause of the crash is being investigated but it could be confirmed that it is only an accident with no connection with sabotage.

The UH-1 helicopter crashed in the morning of January 28, killing all four people on board.

The victims are Sen. Lt. Col. Tran Van Duc, senior pilot; Sen. Lt. Col. Do Van Chinh, engineer; Major Le Hong Quan, pilot and navigator; and Lt. Nguyen Viet Cuong, pilot.

The chopper, which was on a training mission, departed from the southern city’s Tan Son Nhat Airport at 7:15 a.m. and disappeared from the radar just eight minutes later, Tuan said.

It was found going down in hamlet 4 of Pham Van Hai commune, Ho Chi Minh City’s outlying Binh Chanh district, which is about 15km west-south west from the airport.-VNA