No survivors in Nepal helicopter crash BreakingNews.ie_6688

[0375be77]

No survivors in Nepal helicopter crash You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Rescuers in Nepal said there were no survivors in the wreckage of a helicopter found days after it disappeared while carrying the forestry minister and 23 other people, including foreign officials, aid workers and journalists.
Purushottam Shakya of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said rescuers who reached the wreckage confirmed there were no survivors. The helicopter had been missing since Saturday.
Shakya said their focus was now on transporting the bodies back to the capital, Kathmandu.
The helicopter chartered by conservation group WWF was carrying Nepal Forest Minister Gopal Rai, Finnish Embassy Charge d’Affaires Pauli Mustonen, and USAID Deputy Director in Nepal Margaret Alexander.
The search for the missing helicopter had been hampered by rain and fog in the mountainous area. Mountain guides, soldiers,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, police and local villagers combed the area on foot to search for the helicopter, chartered by the environmental group WWF for a visit to a conservation project.
The area is about 250 miles east of Kathmandu.
WWF said seven of its employees were among the missing, including four Nepalis,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, an Australian, a Canadian and an American.
Several Nepali journalists,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, government officials and four crew members – two Russians and two Nepalis – also were on board.
A team of seven rescuers, who had been dropped into the area on Sunday, reached the crash site this afternoon. Weather conditions deteriorated, forcing rescue helicopters to again suspend their flights.
The helicopter left Ghunsa village – where the passengers had been visiting aWWF project – on Saturday morning, but failed to arrive at Suketar village, its intended destination, a 20-minute flight away. Both villages are in the Taplejung district.
The Russian-built MI-17 helicopter was chartered from Shree Helicopter Company, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said.