Chopper crash site spotted; All 24 on-board died

September 25, 2006
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(news update)
In what has come as a tragic news, officials say a search and rescue team has located the crash site of the missing Shree Airlines helicopter in Southern Ghunsa in Taplejung district on Monday and that all twenty-four distinguished passengers on board have been confirmed dead.
Crash sites.

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An official at the Rescue Coordination Unit at the Tribhuvan International Airport told Nepalnews that a team of resue workers spotted the crash site some two kms south-west of Ghunsa. He quoted rescue workers as saying that one of the bodies can be identified while other bodies are badly damaged. Quoting latest reports say, he said all 24 people on board had died.
The ill-fated chopper had left Ghunsa for the district headquarters of Taplejung on Saturday morning. Local people said they had heard a big bang just five minutes after the chopper took off. The chopper has been found crashed at a height of around 10,500 ft.

The helicopter with 24 people on board including Minister of State for Forest and Soil Conservation, Gopal Rai, his wife, senior officials of the Forest Ministry, senior conservationists with the WWF and Kathmandu-based foreign missions was missing since Saturday morning.

Officials said four helicopters that were kept on stand-by have been sent to the area and that they are now trying to bring bodies back to Kathmandu.