An Australian navy helicopter crashed on the earthquake-devastated Indonesian island of Nias, killing nine people, the defense department said Sunday. Two others were rescued but were seriously wounded.
The Sea King helicopter crashed Saturday afternoon near the town of Gunung Sitoli, off the west coast of Sumatra, a defense statement said.
The chopper was from an Australian navy transport ship that arrived Saturday from Singapore after a three-month relief mission in Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged province of Aceh.
