Thai policeman killed after falling off helicopter during training session

BANGKOK, April 23 (TNA) - A Thai police officer of the Pairee Special Police Force, under the Provincial Police Region 1, was killed from falling off a helicopter during an annual training session in Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon. The policeman, 50-year-old Police Senior Sergeant Major Monchai Boonpairoj, slammed hard onto the ground, after his fall and was immediately sent to a nearby hospital with critical condition. Investigative police from Paholyothin Police Station rushed to inspect the scene, which is the inbound side of Ratchadaphisek Road in front of the Vibhavadi Police Station on Vabhavadi Road. An official investigation of the case has been on progress. Meanwhile, Commander of the Provincial Police Region 1 Police Lieutenant General Naret Nantachote told reporters that the incident occurred during the unit's yearly training session with the Police Aviation Division on removing injured patients from hazardous places, during which a leg of Police Senior Sergeant Major Monchai, a trainer in the session, accidentally caught on a sling of a patient's stretcher, causing him to be lifted by a helicopter before falling to the ground. The police officer was later pronounced dead on Wednesday evening by the hospital for broken spine and ribs, as well as several ruptured internal organs. (TNA)