At least four Colombian anti-drugs police officers were killed today when the US-donated UH 1 helicopter they were traveling in crashed in foggy weather in the Andes, authorities said.
Two other police officers who were on board the helicopter at the time of the crash are reported missing and authorities said they feared they might be dead. There were no reports of rebel gunfire in the area.
The accident took place some 105 miles (170 km) west of the capital Bogota, in Colombia's central Andean mountains, in the coffee-rich region of Quindio.
The United States has spent more than $1 billion in mostly military aid to help Colombia fight the drug trade. Colombia, gripped by a 38-year-old war is the world's largest producer of cocaine.