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CHENGDU, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Despite more efforts on searching for
the Chinese helicopter that went missing on Saturday afternoon, the
possibility the 19 people onboard might be alive was fading,
according to the Chengdu Military Area Command.
"It's been more than 100 hours since the helicopter went missing in
the quake zone, and chances are growing slimmer for the19 people to
remain alive," said an official with the headquarters of the rescue
mission under the Chengdu Military Area Command.
As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, there was still no sight of the helicopter.
The five crew and 14 quake victims that were on board were nowhere
to be found.
The military sources said many aftershocks occurred in the suspected
crash site in the past few days, causing landslides and altering
local terrain. The difficulties were mounting for the search and
rescue mission as goes on, he said.
"We will go further in searching for the helicopter and missing
people with more powerful technology," said the official. "We, like
everybody else, are expecting to find them."
As of Wednesday, more helicopters, remote sensing planes and powered
parachute aircraft had joined the hunt. Meanwhile, more than 10,000
troops, paramilitary personnel, and even local residents were still
scrambling through the steep mountains, dense bush and slippery
tracks in a "blanket search."
On Wednesday morning, six special technical soldiers were airlifted
into suspected crash areas for field observation.
In addition, a water-land armored car is being used to detect the
bottom of the Zipingpu dam for their whereabouts. The dam is located
over the Yangtze River's main tributary of the Minjiang River near
Dujiangyan City, one of the areas seriously hit by the quake.
Late Monday, President Hu Jintao, also General Secretary of the
Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the
Central Military Commission, instructed the rescue team to continue
sparing no efforts to search for the helicopter after debriefing a
searching report.
The helicopter went missing on May 31 afternoon as the crew, led by
Senior Colonel Qiu Guanghua, was undertaking its 64th flight mission
since the May 12 quake.
According to military sources, Qiu's crew had enjoyed outstanding
achievements before and they had already transferred 234 victims out
of the quake zone since.
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