Czech army helicopter with five soldiers on board crashes, one dead

PRAGUE, July 23 - A Czech military helicopter with five soldiers on board crashed in the east of the country on Thursday killing one person, the army and rescue services said.

The army said the crash happened at an army base in Namest nad Oslavou, 180km (112 miles) southeast of Prague.

"A Venom helicopter crashed at the 22nd Helicopter Air Force Base in Namest nad Oslavou," the army said. "There were five soldiers on board. The integrated emergency system is responding at the scene."

Jihlava region rescue service spokesman Petr Janacek said one person was killed in the accident, which ocurred directly at the base.

Three other people have been transported to hospital, one with light and two with medium-severity injuries, he said.

Janacek was unable to confirm any details about the identities of those on board and said rescue operations were still underway.

Regional police spokeswoman Dana Cirtkova was quoted by CTK news agency as saying the police had been informed of the crash at 1211 local time (1011 GMT).

The UH-1Y Venom is a multi-purpose helicopter produced by Bell Textron and powered by two T700-GE-401C engines produced by General Electric . REUTERS