A helicopter carrying five French-trained Nepali mountain
rescuers has landed near where a chopper carrying 24 passengers and
crew is believed to have disappeared, an official said Sunday.
"We hope that the team will be able to reach the presumed site
of the missing helicopter in 2 or 3 hours," said Trishna Gurung, an
official with the World Wildlife Fund that chartered the lost
craft.
Passengers on the missing flight included a government minister
and senior international WWF personnel.
Rain and fog had prevented helicopters and foot patrols from
searching the heavily-wooded and mountainous terrain for most of
Sunday, but one craft was able to take off in a window of clearer
weather late in the afternoon, Gurung said.
"The five highly trained Nepali mountain guides are carrying
communications devices, rations and medical gear," Gurung said.
Rescuers had briefly resumed their search early Sunday for
passengers including Nepal's forest minister Gopal Rai and his wife
as well as the Finnish embassy's charge d'affaires Pauli
Mustonnen.
The helicopter is believed to have crashed shortly after takeoff
around midday (06:15 GMT) on Saturday from the village of Ghunsa at
an altitude of 3,475 meters.
Nepal's government offered a reward of US$2,700 for anyone who
located the missing helicopter, the civil aviation authority said
in a statement.
Some international and local media had reported the helicopter
found, but this was not the case, it said.
"We request all media organizations to disseminate information
only after official verification," the statement said.
Local people reported hearing a loud bang about five minutes
after the helicopter took off, said Himesh Lal Karna, an air
traffic official at Kathmandu airport.
"There is a high possibility that the helicopter may have
crashed," Karna said.
Gurung, the WWF official quoted on the group's website, said two
rescue teams had set out on foot on Saturday and were making "a
valiant effort despite the rain and cold conditions in the
mountains."
Locals and soldiers were assisting in the search, Gurung
said.
A third search team of 120 police, soldiers and locals left
nearby Paplejung late on Saturday, the website said.
(China Daily September 25, 2006)
