Special report: Reconstruction After Earthquake
BEIJING, June 3 -- More than 10,000 rescue workers
have not been able to trace any of the 19 people who crashed Saturday in a
helicopter in Sichuan province even after 48 hours.
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Militiamen search for a missing
helicopter in the Zhaogong Mountain near Dujiangyan City, southwest
China's Sichuan Province, June 2, 2008. A military transport helicopter
engaging in quake relief work near Yingxiu Town was missing on May 31.
There were altogether 19 people on board the helicopter, including five
crew members and 14 injured local residents. (Xinhua Photo)
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The
copter was carrying five crew and 14 injured quake survivors when it encountered
strong turbulence and thick fog and crashed on the densely forested Zhaogong
Mountain, military sources said. The spot is near Xuankou township between
Dujiangyan and Wenchuan, two of the worst hit places by the quake.
The Mi-171 helicopter, under Chengdu Military
Command, was returning after carrying a team of epidemic prevention experts to
Lixian county and picking up the injured from there.
Another 6,000 rescue workers were added to the
4,000-strong search team yesterday.
Many helicopters, too, were employed in the search
operation, rear admiral Zhu Xinmin, of the military command, said in Chengdu.
But the high mountains, narrow canyons and dense forests were hindering the
search.
Rescue and relief flights have been hampered by harsh
geographical conditions.
"Some of the canyons are 200-300 m wide and more than
100 m deep and are like wells," said Cheng Qingxin, a pilot with the People's
Liberation Army's General Staff Headquarters (GSH).
Cloudy and misty weather, too, have thwarted pilots'
life-saving missions. "How can you fly when you can't see the next mountain
while flying over one?" a senior colonel with the GSH said.
The crashed copter's five crew, led by Qiu Guanghua,
has completed 63 flights, carrying 25.8 tons of relief materials and 234 quake
survivors.
His regiment was the first to reach food, medicine
and other relief materials to Wenchuan, Maoxian, Yingxiu and Beichuan, and carry
the injured to safer places.
Qiu has about 5,800 hours of flying experience and is
among the country's top pilots. The 51-year-old is a member of the Qiang
community and part of the first batch of ethnic minority pilots selected by late
premier Zhou Enlai in 1974.
A native of Maoxian, he flew past the badly-hit
county several times after the quake but didn't get time to visit home even
once. He is scheduled to retire in 10 months.
The other four with Qiu are pilot Li Yue, mechanical
officers Wang Huaiyuan and Chen Lin, and sergeant Zhang Peng.
(Source: China Daily)
Search continues for crashed China
quake-relief helicopter
CHENGDU, June 2 (Xinhua) -- As of Monday afternoon,
Chinese rescuers were unable to locate a military helicopter that crashed during
a quake- relief operation after two days of search.
The Sichuan provincial government's information office
said rescuers were continuing in their efforts to locate the chopper that
crashed with 19 people aboard, including five crew.
The helicopter crashed on Saturday after encountering
strong turbulence and heavy fog in a mountainous area. Full story
Helicopter crashes while on duty in
quake zones
CHENGDU, June 1 (Xinhua) -- A military transport
helicopter engaging in quake relief work near the Yingxiu Township, Wenchuan
County in Southwest China's Sichuan Province crashed on Saturday afternoon,
according to military sources.
A crew of five and 14 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 military sources
said. Full story
