When his chopper crashed into the forest, this is the horrific moment a presidential contender from Panama narrowly escaped death.
The disaster occurred on Wednesday of last week when Dimitri Flores, a lawyer who is standing for election in 2024, was flying from Changuinola in the country’s north to the city of David in the country’s south.
The helicopter was flying over mountains in the country’s center when it met a dense bank of fog, causing the pilot to lose control and crash into woods, as shown on cockpit footage.
Flores then issued an SOS on social media, which drew the attention of rescue crews who went three hours into the jungle and successfully rescued all six chopper passengers alive in the early hours of the next morning.
Flores can be heard stating, “Brother, we just had an accident here at 4,500ft on the mountain range” in the SOS video that was published shortly after the incident on Wednesday afternoon.
“We are in Jaramillo, sibling. It shattered. We need to be rescued immediately. I’m sure we’ve had legs and limbs broken.
‘Wow. There are six of us. Thank God we are still alive.
Social media images show Flores and another member of the group seated on chairs thrown from the chopper.
Flores is seen clutching his left arm in one shot, and in another, it seems limp in his lap, indicating he was wounded.
A third photograph depicts a passenger conversing on the phone while sporting a massive black eye, facial wounds, and blood on his clothes.
Lores was forced to spend many hours in the woods and complained that no helicopters were allowed to land at the disaster scene.
Due to its isolated position, rescuers from the National Aeronaval Service of Panama had to trek for three hours to reach the accident site, which they stated they were able to identify swiftly.
They arrived late on Wednesday and spent the evening treating patients before evacuating everyone who was still alive overnight into Thursday.
The Aeronaval Service tweeted shortly after 11 p.m. local time that the six wounded persons were extracted from the helicopter throughout the night.
“Thanks to the collaboration of the Chiriqui Joint Task Force, inhabitants of the Alto Boquete neighborhood, and the Boquete Mayor’s Office, this mission was accomplished.
They will be sent to a medical facility.
Since then, Flores has continued campaigning for the 2024 election, in which he is running as an independent candidate.