SAR operations

Search and rescue operations mount for crashed helicopter engaged in quake relief task

BEIJING, June 1 (APP) The Chengdu Military Area Command has launched search and rescue operations after a military transport helicopter engaged in quake relief work crashed on Saturday afternoon. The helicopter was returning from a mission to carry epidemic prevention experts to Lixian county when it encountered strong turbulence and fog and crashed, the state media reported Sunday. A crew of four and 10 injured local residents were on board for transfer when the Mi-171 helicopter with the quake relief troops of the Chengdu Military Area Command crashed at 2:56 p.m., the Xinhua news agency referred the military sources as saying. The sources further said that the military transport helicopter deployed in quake relief work near the Yingxiu Township, Wenchuan County in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province when it crashed on Saturday afternoon.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, has instructed local authorities to immediately carry out search and rescue operations. Hu, who is overseeing quake relief operations in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, has also instructed vice chairman of the Central Military Commission Guo Boxiong to fly to front line to direct relevant operations.