Still no word on survivors of helicopter crash in China earthquake zone

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Thousands of soldiers combed remote mountains in China's Sichuan province Monday in search of a military helicopter that crashed while transporting earthquake victims. 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. 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. State broadcaster CCTV reported on its main noontime news broadcast that 4,000 soldiers were taking part in the search but gave no word on any survivors. China has relied heavily on its 250-strong fleet of Mi-171s to transport supplies and relief workers and evacuate the injured from widely scattered towns in the mountainous area where roads were wiped out by landslides.