Hundreds of soldiers to carry bodies of victims in copter

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Source: CCTV.com | 06-11-2008 17:47

Searchers have found the military transport helicopter which crashed on May 31st while carrying out earthquake relief work in Sichuan. The wreckage was located in mountains near the quake epicenter township of Yingxiu. The bodies of all 18 people on board have been found.

100 soldiers have already reached the site and a total of about 600 soldiers are expected to be involved in the operation.

Militia and reservists mobilized by the Chengdu Military Area Command located the wreckage of the Mi-171 helicopter on Tuesday morning in the mountains near the quake epicenter town, Yingxiu. The remains of the five crew members and 13 quake victims on board were also found.

One soldier said "We used a radio-active detective device to look for the missing helicopter. We spotted an area of burnt leaves which was suspicious. We descended with ropes, because there was no road on the steep mountain. Five teams worked on the operation and two team members found the missing chopper."

The military says its rescue helicopter can't land at the crash site because of the steep valley, mountainous terrain and heavy forest cover. 100 soldiers have already reached the site and a total of about 600 soldiers are expected to be involved in the operation. It will take two to three days to remove the bodies.

The helicopter that crashed was transferring the 13 injured local residents from the quake's epicenter when it reportedly encountered strong turbulence and fog.

Editor:Xiong Qu