Ten killed in helicopter crash in Indonesia

A helicopter chartered by an Australian mining company crashed into a mountain in eastern Indonesia, killing all 10 passengers and crew, the head of a search and rescue team has said. The Bell 412, carrying two Australians, two South Africans and six Indonesians, lost contact with the authorities on Wednesday afternoon minutes after takeoff from the city of Manado on Sulawesi island, said Lucky Pondaag, an airport spokesman. It was heading to Newcrest's Gosowong mine on Halmahera island. A search and rescue team discovered the wreckage in the early hours of Thursday, said Ludianto, head of the operations, who goes by only one name. There was only one survivor at the scene, he said, an Indonesian man who later died of his injuries at the hospital. The bodies of the nine others have been transported to Manado.