Search for crashed chopper in China quake zone

CHINA: Thousands of soldiers scoured China's mountainous earthquake zone Monday for a military helicopter that was carrying injured quake survivors when it crashed in fog.

There was no clue as to the fate of the five crew members and 14 passengers who were on board the army Mi-171 helicopter, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Four rescue helicopters had launched missions in the area where the crash was believed to have taken place, assisted by more than 3,000 soldiers on the ground, but so far the search had been in vain, Xinhua said.

Military personnel involved in the effort said they believed the crash took place in the vicinity of Zhaogong Mountain in China's southwestern province of Sichuan, which bore the brunt of the May 12 quake.

The military was broadening the scope of the search, according to Xinhua. The defence ministry did not immediately respond to AFP requests for updates.

The helicopter was on a mission to carry epidemic prevention experts to Li county, and was returning with residents too seriously injured to be moved by land, the agency added.

Reflecting the gruelling routines forced on military chopper crews in the quake zone, it had completed 63 flights since the earthquake on May 12.

Shifang, Monday, AFP