Soldiers battle heavy fog in China quake helicopter hunt

CHINA: More than 10,000 troops battled heavy fog Tuesday as they tried to find a crashed helicopter in China’s rugged quake zone, where authorities were also monitoring a dangerously swollen lake.

Nearly 70 hours after the crash, there was no sign of the Mi-171 chopper from the People’s Liberation Army or the five crew members and 14 injured quake survivors who had been on board, state media reported.

Another 6,000 rescue workers have been to the 4,000 already involved in the search for the missing helicopter, concentrated in densely forested mountains divided by narrow canyons, according to the China Daily.

“Some of the canyons are 200 to 300 metres (660 to 980 feet) wide and more than 100 metres deep and are like wells,” said Cheng Qingxin, a pilot with the army’s General Staff Headquarters.

Chengdu, Tuesday, AFP