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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.
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.
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