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| Roy Bennett, Zimbabwean opposition figure, dies in helicopter crash | Roy Bennett, Zimbabwean opposition figure, dies in helicopter crash |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Police confirm Bennett, his wife and four others were killed in crash | Police confirm Bennett, his wife and four others were killed in crash |
| Bennett was called sharpest thorn in the side of Robert Mugabe | Bennett was called sharpest thorn in the side of Robert Mugabe |
| Staff and agencies in Albuquerque | Staff and agencies in Albuquerque |
| Thu 18 Jan 2018 20.10 GMT | Thu 18 Jan 2018 20.10 GMT |
| First published on Thu 18 Jan 2018 20.00 GMT | First published on Thu 18 Jan 2018 20.00 GMT |
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| Roy Bennett, a prominent Zimbabwean opposition figure, has been killed with his wife in a helicopter crash in the US state of New Mexico. | Roy Bennett, a prominent Zimbabwean opposition figure, has been killed with his wife in a helicopter crash in the US state of New Mexico. |
| Local police confirmed Bennett’s death on Thursday, a day after a helicopter carrying him and five others went down in a mountainous rural area of northern New Mexico. | Local police confirmed Bennett’s death on Thursday, a day after a helicopter carrying him and five others went down in a mountainous rural area of northern New Mexico. |
| Details of why the 60-year-old Bennett was in the area were not immediately available. The crash killed five people including Bennett’s wife Heather, and injured a sixth person who raised the alarm. | Details of why the 60-year-old Bennett was in the area were not immediately available. The crash killed five people including Bennett’s wife Heather, and injured a sixth person who raised the alarm. |
| In Zimbabwe, Tendai Biti, a prominent opposition leader and a former finance minister, tweeted that the Bennett’s “tragic passing” was “a blow to our struggle”. | In Zimbabwe, Tendai Biti, a prominent opposition leader and a former finance minister, tweeted that the Bennett’s “tragic passing” was “a blow to our struggle”. |
| The helicopter went down about 6pm on Wednesday about 15 miles (24km) east of the small city of Raton near the Colorado state line. | |
| The injured victim of the crash called 911 after the helicopter went down and authorities launched a search. They said the response was slow because of the rugged terrain and remote area, which has few roads. | |
| Engulfed in flames, the wreckage was spotted on the ranch property east of the small community of Raton. The fire had charred a large area around the crash site. | Engulfed in flames, the wreckage was spotted on the ranch property east of the small community of Raton. The fire had charred a large area around the crash site. |
| The crash also killed pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd, 57, of Trinidad, Colorado; co-pilot Paul Cobb, 67, of Conroe, Texas; Charles Ryland Burnett, 61, of Houston. | The crash also killed pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd, 57, of Trinidad, Colorado; co-pilot Paul Cobb, 67, of Conroe, Texas; Charles Ryland Burnett, 61, of Houston. |
| Bennett, a white former farmer, was known as “Pachedu”, meaning “one of us” in Shona and was often called the sharpest thorn in the side of former president Robert Mugabe. | |
| In 2004, Bennett was jailed for a year for assaulting a cabinet minister who had said Bennett’s “forefathers were thieves and murderers” during a parliamentary debate. An enraged Bennett charged the minister, who fell to the floor. | |
| He emerged from prison rail-thin and scarred from repeated sunburns. He told of the mistreatment of fellow prisoners, some of whom he said had starved to death in their cells. | He emerged from prison rail-thin and scarred from repeated sunburns. He told of the mistreatment of fellow prisoners, some of whom he said had starved to death in their cells. |
| After receiving death threats, Bennett fled Zimbabwe but returned in 2009 after his party nominated him for the deputy agriculture minister in a coalition government with Mugabe’s Zanu-PF. Mugabe, who had repeatedly alleged Bennett was the opposition party’s contact with foreign funders, refused to swear him in. | |
| Bennett later returned to South Africa but remained a vocal critic of Mugabe’s rule. He also criticized his former party for allegedly enjoying the comforts of government while ordinary Zimbabweans suffered. | Bennett later returned to South Africa but remained a vocal critic of Mugabe’s rule. He also criticized his former party for allegedly enjoying the comforts of government while ordinary Zimbabweans suffered. |
| Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe |
| New Mexico | New Mexico |
| Africa | Africa |
| news | news |
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