Army helicopter carrying diplomats crashes in Myanmar - spokesman

A military helicopter carrying foreign diplomats crashed in eastern Myanmar on Friday afternoon, injuring two pilots, a military spokesman said.

Several military attachés were on board the helicopter bound for the commercial capital of Yangon when it crashed shortly after taking off from Lwe Khan village in northern Shan state, spokesman Zaw Min Tun told Reuters, declining to elaborate. They had attended a press briefing in the area, where authorities recently seized $37 million worth of narcotics, chemicals, and equipment, he said.

It was not immediately clear whether anyone other than the pilots were injured. Aircraft accidents involving either civilian or military planes are not uncommon in the Southeast Asian country.

Myanmar is the world's biggest producer of methamphetamine, and authorities are often keen to show large-scale seizures to the media.