State media says thousands of soldiers have combed remote mountains in China's Sichuan province in search of a military helicopter that crashed while transporting earthquake victims, reported CNN.
The Russian-designed Mi-171 transport had been carrying 19 people, 14 of them people injured in the quake, when it flew into fog and turbulence and crashed near the epicenter of the May 12 quake in the town of Wenchuan on Saturday, state media reported Monday.
The chopper was returning after dropping off four members of an epidemic prevention team in the town of Lixian, the official China Daily newspaper reported, underscoring efforts to prevent disease outbreaks in quake-hit areas and crowded camps for those made homeless.