On Sunday afternoon, a civilian helicopter lost altitude while scooping water and crashed into the Barito River in South Kalimantan, killing an Indonesian crew member and injuring two foreign crew members.

The latest crash took place just four days after an Army Mi-17V5 heavy transport helicopter crashed into the waters off Seruyan, Central Kalimantan, for a water bombing operation to fight wildfires in Tanjung Puting National Park. Three personnel were killed in the accident.

Investigations are still underway to identify the cause of the crashed helicopters, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

The death toll from the two water bombing missions adds to the list of firefighters killed while battling forest and peatland fires across the country over the past few months.

Coordinating Politics and Security Minister Dudung Abdurachman said on Monday that at least 15 firefighters, including volunteers and military personnel, have died in the line of duty in East Java, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and South Sulawesi.

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