A soldier died in a minefield in Afghanistan because there was no helicopter with a winch to rescue him, the former commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment told an inquest yesterday.

Corporal Mark Wright, 27, of 3 Para, was killed in a mine blast on September 6, 2006, after an RAF Chinook arrived without a winch. The downdraft may have set off the explosion. Six others had already been injured by blasts, three of them losing limbs.

The long wait for a rescue was highlighted at an inquest in Oxford yesterday during evidence given by Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Tootal, who was Corporal Wright's commanding officer. Colonel Tootal has since resigned his commission and left the Army.

Colonel Tootal said that there were not enough helicopters, and resources were “stretched to breaking point”. The only available Chinook was sent to the explosion scene near the Kajaki Dam in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, but it had no equipment to winch injured soldiers to safety. It took three and a half hours for an American Black Hawk helicopter with winching gear to arrive. By then the corporal was mortally wounded.

Corporal Wright, from Edinburgh, had entered the minefield to try to rescue his injured comrades. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest honour for bravery in circumstances where enemy action is not involved.

Colonel Tootal told the inquest: “The obvious answer was a Black Hawk helicopter and we kept pushing for one [but] we kept being informed there was a delay because of clearance, I believe, from Nato level.”

He added: “I wasn't interested in bureaucracy, I just wanted to know when it would be available. I am convinced in my own mind if we had that helicopter we could have kept everyone firm and kept treating the injured soldier [Corporal Wright] and got everyone out.”

September 6 had been “the day of days”, Colonel Tootal said, with clashes with the Taleban in Musa Qala and Sangin, both also in Helmand province. That day three of his men were killed and eighteen others were injured.

Asked by Andrew Walker, the coroner, whether he had considered the risks of the helicopter setting off a mine, Colonel Tootal said: “We had a man who was going to bleed to death. We were very alive to the threat and kept saying, 'We need a Black Hawk, we need a Black Hawk'. The risks involved were understood. It was my decision to send the helicopter.”

The colonel said he believed that a sergeant had managed to clear a path where he hoped the helicopter could land. But as he stepped back a mine detonated. There were then further explosions.

When the Chinook landed, it was waved away because of the downdraft risk. As it took off, there was another detonation, and Corporal Wright was wounded. The injuries were to the chest and Colonel Tootal was sure that the corporal had not touched the mine.

The inquest was adjourned.

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