The entrance to the village where a helicopter crash occured has been cordoned off on the outskirts of Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, July 7, 2014. A military helicopter crashed in Vietnam's capital Hanoi during a routine training exercise Monday, an official said, as state-run media carried conflicting reports of casualties. (Xinhua/Zhang Jianhua)
HANOI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A military helicopter crashed in the west of Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Monday morning, killing at least 6 people.
Approximately at 7:45 local time (0045 GMT) on Monday, a helicopter crashed in Hoa Lac of Thach That District.
A middle-aged woman told Xinhua at the scene that she saw a helicopter hovering above when working in a paddy field.
"It is quite normal to see helicopter hovering above here because there is a military airbase located two kilometers away. However, I then felt strange as the helicopter kept flying around," she said.
"I heard an explosion and saw the helicopter crash down to the paddy fields," she told Xinhua.
The eyewitness said she saw three people jump out of the helicopter after the explosion and get burnt. "After the officials came, around six to seven bodies were pulled out of the wreckage," she said. "Then I was evacuated from the site by military officials," she said, adding that there were around 20 people onboard the helicopter.
At 11:00 local time (0400 GMT), Xinhua reporters saw ambulance vans and military vehicles still coming out from the village site. The entrance to the village has been blocked.
Earlier, Phi Quoc Tuan, Vietnam's Capital Military Region Commander, by telephone told reporters at 9:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) that the accident occurred during training.
