Colombia’s Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday that there exists no physical evidence that indicates that a police helicopter crash killing 16 was due to an attack.
The National Police Black Hawk helicopter crashed in the northern municipality of Carepa on August 1, killing all but one on board the aircraft.
Conservative opposition party Democratic Center, led by former President Alvaro Uribe, alleged that the helicopter was shot down by FARC guerrillas after the leaking of audio from a helicopter nearby the crash.
In the recording, a police officer said that “it looks like they were hit from below, not with bullets but with a ‘tatuco’,” a home-made mortar commonly used by the FARC.
Helicopter that crashed in northwest Colombia was shot down: Opposition
However, according to Medical Examiner’s Office, “no projectile that was shot from outside was found,” increasing the likelihood the aircraft crashed due to bad weather as alleged by the National Police.
According to the medical examiner’s office, bullets were found in some of the policemen’s bodies, but these were due to ammunition that exploded after the aircraft caught fire.
The cause of death of all 16 policemen was the multiple traumas afflicted when the helicopter hit the ground.
The helicopter was carrying out an operation to capture one of the leaders of the “Urabeños,” a drug trafficking neo-paramilitary group that operates from the area where the helicopter crashed.
Police and military have been combing the region since the beginning of the year, hoping to find “Otoniel,” the boss of the neo-paramilitary groups that has become the most powerful drug trafficking organization in Colombia after its foundation in the beginning of this century.
Chasing ‘Otoniel’, the elusive top boss of Colombia’s drug trade