Crashed helicopter found in Sichuan

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-6-10  |     ONLINE EDITION

A CRASHED helicopter was found this morning after it went missing in Sichuan Province on May 31, according to Chinanews.com.

More than 300 soldiers and paramilitary personnel, under the leadership of Xia Guofu, Sichuan Province Military Area Commander, and Li Lizhong, the dean of its Politics Department, discovered the wreckage in Yinxiu Town, Wenchuan County, the report said.

There was still no word about the fate of the 19 people aboard the helicopter.

The Russian-designed Mi-171 transport had a crew of five and was transporting 14 injured earthquake victims out of the quake area at the time of the crash. It encountered fog and turbulence before crashing near the epicenter of the May 12 quake, state media reported.

After the crash, President Hu Jintao told soldiers to spare no effort to find the helicopter and survivors. More than 12,000 troops and paramilitary personnel were involved in the search.

The helicopter was camouflaged and was difficult to spot amongst the dense bush and trees of the mountainous area, which made it harder to find, the report said.