World IN BRIEF : SOVIET UNION : Overloading May Have Downed Copter

A helicopter crash in Azerbaijan that killed 23 people might have been caused by overloading and not rocket fire as some reports suggested, said Ivan S. Silayev, head of the Inter-Republic Economic Committee. “It’s strange the helicopter took so many passengers on board,” he told the magazine Pro-Armenia. The crash victims included high-level Soviet officials involved in the peace process for the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan. Initial reports said the military helicopter slammed into a mountain in dense fog Wednesday. Investigators found a hole in the helicopter and suggested that it was shot down by a missile.