The Peruvian government on Tuesday denied that a military helicopter, which crashed the same day in the Andean region, was connected to drug rafficking or a terrorist attack.
Peru's Defense Minister Rafael Rey said the cause of the accident was bad weather.
"The aircraft fell down at the moment of landing, due to a very strong wind gust," Rey
explained.
Rey added that the passengers had not been seriously injured.
The helicopter crashed in Tayacaja Province, some 500 km southeast of Lima, according to local media reports.
The helicopter took off at 6:00 a.m. local time (11:00 GMT) from the aerial base of Jauja in
central Peru and was heading to the Apurimac Valley and Ene Rivers in southern Peru.
In recent months, drug traffickers have attacked military bases, killing more than 10 soldiers and civilians.