Skip to main content

3 from missing Thai helicopter survive

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A passenger onboard a helicopter that went missing over one of Myanmar’s tallest mountains walked into a remote village Tuesday, saying both pilots also survived but were injured and needed help, organizers of the search said.

The helicopter, carrying only three people, disappeared soon after leaving Putao airport in Kachin state on Sept. 27 to drop food for a team searching for two Myanmar climbers.

It remained unclear if it crashed or made an emergency landing.

But on Tuesday afternoon, the sole passenger arrived in Lan Sar village after traveling “many miles” by foot, saying the Thai and Myanmar pilots also were alive, according to the Htoo Foundation, which has been leading the search for both the helicopter and the missing climbers.

He said they were hurt and still deep in the forest.

A team of experienced climbers, villagers and police were preparing to rescue them, the organization said.

The helicopter was looking for two climbers who lost contact with base camp soon after reaching the ice-capped summit of the 5,881-meter (19,300-foot) Hkakabo Razi mountain.

The search for the missing climbers, now presumed dead, involved helicopters from Thailand, the U.S. and China, as well as other mountaineers.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hail to the chief: Take our presidential trivia quiz

EDITOR'S NOTE: WTOP first brought you this quiz in 2019. Presidents Day is coming. How well do you know the less-important facts about the nation's leaders? Take WTOP's quiz — with any luck, it won't take you all Presidents Day to finish it.
Read Next Story