WASHINGTON: Britain’s Prince Harry broke hearts in Washington’s corridors of power Thursday, showing more interest in land mines than in the excited fans who greeted him at the start of a week-long US visit.
Squeals ricocheted down the halls of the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill as the 28-year-old eligible bachelor inspected a photo exhibit set up by the HALO Trust, a charity favored by his late mother Princess Diana.
Harry, a British army officer in Afghanistan, ignored the group of ladies as he chatted with Senator John McCain, 76, a Vietnam war veteran whose wife Cindy is a HALO board member. There were no public remarks, but Harry was overheard inquiring about the price of mine detectors when he cast an eye over mannequins in cobalt blue outfits combing the polished marble floor for imaginary unexploded ordnance.
Harry is the honorary fundraising patron of HALO, the world’s biggest demining organization, which since its founding 25 years ago has unearthed more than 1.4 million land mines in 9,800 minefields around the world. Diana famously toured minefields cleared by HALO teams in Angola shortly before her death in a Paris car crash in August 1997, a year after her stormy divorce from Prince Charles, heir to the British throne. Harry paid a surprise visit to the White House, where First Lady Michelle Obama offered him afternoon tea in the company of American military veterans.
“He has a very busy schedule, but when he heard about this tea and all of you... he wanted to be here to personally thank you for your service,” she said as Harry kept a polite silence. Harry’s official schedule in Washington also included a dinner at the home of British Ambassador Peter Westmacott — scallops and roasted veal were served — and a solemn wreath-laying yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery.
Ladies swoon but Harry is all business
Ladies swoon but Harry is all business
Small dog sole survivor of Peru helicopter crash that killed 15
- Rescue workers found the caramel-colored dog among the twisted wreckage of the Mi-17 helicopter
- Local media reported that the dog appeared OK, but as a precaution was taken to a veterinary clinic
LIMA: The only survivor of a military helicopter crash in southern Peru that killed 15 people was a small dog belonging to a colonel who was among the passengers, an air force source told AFP Tuesday.
Rescue workers found the caramel-colored dog among the twisted wreckage of the Mi-17 helicopter that crashed Sunday. It was lying next to the body of its owner, Col. Javier Nole, 50, who was on board with his wife and two daughters.
“It’s Col. Nole’s pet; it’s the only survivor,” the source, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
Local media reported that the dog appeared OK, but as a precaution was taken to a veterinary clinic.
Seven children were among the 15 fatalities when the Russian-made aircraft crashed in the Arequipa region. The helicopter had been recently deployed in rescue operations for victims of floods there.
It had taken off from the city of Pisco, in the Ica region. Rescuers located the wreckage on Monday just over 300 kilometers (186 miles) away near Chala Viejo, a town close to the Pacific coast in Arequipa.
The air force has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.
