The President of the Republic announced this Sunday that he would attend the funeral of the five soldiers killed in the helicopter crash on the Douro River in Lamego, and stressed the “dedication and sacrifice” of these people.
“I am going and I know that the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the Prime Minister will also be there, and we will try to go, which is not very easy, today to all the funeral ceremonies, which are many and they are remote places, and even the one that will take place tomorrow,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in Aveiro on the sidelines of the closing of the National Youth Meeting.
The head of state explained that he would “convey to the families and communities (…) the regret of the Portuguese people, who understand the importance of the contribution of those soldiers, those security personnel, who were on a mission, a mission that had not ended.”
“This is a kind of dedication and sacrifice for all of us,” he stressed.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he had not yet spoken to the families of the five NTC soldiers killed on Friday and that he was leaving that moment for today: “When I went, I went very quickly to the command post because the operations were ongoing and I obviously did not want any intervention, the families had not yet arrived and were in very different situations, there were some who still had a lot of hope and others who no longer had hope.”
A forest firefighting helicopter crashed into the Douro River on Friday near the town of Samodaines, Lamego, carrying a pilot and a group of five soldiers from the Emergency Protection and Assistance Unit (UEPC) who were returning from a fire in the municipality of Bayão.
The pilot of the plane was rescued alive, having suffered only minor injuries.
The bodies of four NTC soldiers were also found on Friday. A fifth was found on Saturday afternoon after an intensive search at the site.
The causes of the accident are not yet known.
The Portuguese government agency, the Directorate for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Rail Accidents (GPIAAF), has a team on the ground and is investigating the accident.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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