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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Times Reporter Is Injured in Iraq Helicopter Crash | Times Reporter Is Injured in Iraq Helicopter Crash |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| ERBIL, Iraq — A helicopter carrying aid from Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous government to stranded Yazidi refugees in the Sinjar mountains of northern Iraq crashed on Tuesday, killing the pilot and injuring other passengers, including a Yazidi member of Parliament and a New York Times journalist. | ERBIL, Iraq — A helicopter carrying aid from Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous government to stranded Yazidi refugees in the Sinjar mountains of northern Iraq crashed on Tuesday, killing the pilot and injuring other passengers, including a Yazidi member of Parliament and a New York Times journalist. |
| Alissa J. Rubin, 56, The Times’s Paris bureau chief and a longtime war correspondent, apparently suffered a concussion, at least one broken wrist and possibly some broken ribs but was conscious. Adam Ferguson, 35, a freelance photographer working for The Times who was accompanying Ms. Rubin, said via cellphone text that he suffered a sore jaw and some minor bumps. | Alissa J. Rubin, 56, The Times’s Paris bureau chief and a longtime war correspondent, apparently suffered a concussion, at least one broken wrist and possibly some broken ribs but was conscious. Adam Ferguson, 35, a freelance photographer working for The Times who was accompanying Ms. Rubin, said via cellphone text that he suffered a sore jaw and some minor bumps. |
| The Russian-made helicopter, with a four-person crew from Iraqi Kurdistan’s pesh merga militia force, had just delivered emergency aid and picked up 20 to 25 Yazidi evacuees when it crashed shortly after it took off from the remote mountainous region, said Mr. Ferguson. The aircraft landed upside down and survivors had to crawl out of the wreckage, he said. | The Russian-made helicopter, with a four-person crew from Iraqi Kurdistan’s pesh merga militia force, had just delivered emergency aid and picked up 20 to 25 Yazidi evacuees when it crashed shortly after it took off from the remote mountainous region, said Mr. Ferguson. The aircraft landed upside down and survivors had to crawl out of the wreckage, he said. |
| “If we had been another 50 meters higher we’d all be dead,” he said. | “If we had been another 50 meters higher we’d all be dead,” he said. |
| Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff for the president of the Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani, said two rescue helicopters later took the survivors to safety at a pesh merga base. They were then transferred to ambulances, and Ms. Rubin and Mr. Ferguson were taken to a hospital in Zakho, a town near the Turkish border, where Ms. Rubin received emergency medical care. | |
| Aside from the pilot, there were no other fatalities. Mr. Ferguson said the aircraft might have been overloaded, but Mr. Hussein attributed the crash to an accidental loss of control by the pilot when the aircraft hit a boulder as it was lifting off. The precise cause was not clear. | Aside from the pilot, there were no other fatalities. Mr. Ferguson said the aircraft might have been overloaded, but Mr. Hussein attributed the crash to an accidental loss of control by the pilot when the aircraft hit a boulder as it was lifting off. The precise cause was not clear. |
| Kurdish news media said the passengers included Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of Iraq’s Parliament, who had helped draw international attention to the plight of the thousands of Yazidis trapped in the Sinjar mountains by the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Ms. Dakhil’s condition was not immediately known. | Kurdish news media said the passengers included Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of Iraq’s Parliament, who had helped draw international attention to the plight of the thousands of Yazidis trapped in the Sinjar mountains by the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Ms. Dakhil’s condition was not immediately known. |
| Besides Ms. Rubin and Mr. Ferguson, at least two other journalists were aboard the aircraft, including Moises Saman, a freelance photographer on assignment for Time magazine. | |
| Other Kurdish officials said the survivors had been under no danger at the crash site, and there was no evidence that Sunni militants were anywhere nearby. | Other Kurdish officials said the survivors had been under no danger at the crash site, and there was no evidence that Sunni militants were anywhere nearby. |
| Dean Baquet, The Times’s executive editor, said in a statement that both Ms. Rubin and Mr. Ferguson were being evacuated from the region to receive medical care. “Alissa is a close friend and one of our most esteemed journalists,” Mr. Baquet said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with both Alissa and Adam.” | Dean Baquet, The Times’s executive editor, said in a statement that both Ms. Rubin and Mr. Ferguson were being evacuated from the region to receive medical care. “Alissa is a close friend and one of our most esteemed journalists,” Mr. Baquet said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with both Alissa and Adam.” |