Panama helicopter crash kills Chile police chief
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - A helicopter crashed into a building in a busy central district of Panama City on Thursday, killing Chile's federal police chief and several other people.
Police chief Gen. Jose Alejandro Bernales, identified by the Chilean Foreign Ministry, was one of two senior security personnel from Chile traveling in the helicopter when it slammed into a store, breaking in half with the impact and setting the building on fire.
The Chileans were in Panama for an anti-terrorism conference, Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro told Reuters at the scene.
Two police officers said at least five people were killed in the crash, in which the back end of the helicopter was torn off and landed on top of a nearby office building.
A Reuters reporter at the scene saw body parts on the ground as the building burned.
The Chilean Foreign Ministry said six people were confirmed dead, including Bernales.
A witness who was driving by at the time of the crash said the helicopter exploded when it hit the building.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. A policeman identified the helicopter as an aging model from the late 1960s.
(Reporting by Andrew Beatty; additional reporting by Monica Vargas; writing by Mica Rosenberg; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
