Missing Koreans presumed dead in chopper crash: officials

Eight Koreans who went missing after their helicopter crashed into a mountain in Peru last week are presumed to have been killed, officials said Saturday.

The Peruvian military and police conducted an aerial search and discovered the wreckage of the helicopter at about 4,950 meters above sea level near Coline in southern Peru, according to an official at the South Korean Embassy in Lima.

All 14 people on board, including the South Koreans and the pilot, are presumed to have been killed in the crash, the official quoted a Peruvian police official as saying.

In a phone call, Peruvian Interior Minister Wilber Calle also told South Korean Ambassador to Lima Park Hee-kwon the missing helicopter was found broken in two pieces after apparently crashing into a rock face, and there appeared to be no survivors, the embassy official said on condition of anonymity.

An overland rescue team of Peruvian police officers located the wreckage of the ill-fated helicopter from a distance of about 1 kilometer, as they could not go nearer due to rough terrain and bad weather, the official said.

Peruvian rescue officials plan to resume their search for the missing people after daybreak Sunday, the official added.

The helicopter went missing Wednesday while returning from a trip to a potential hydropower plant site near Mazuco in southeastern Peru. The South Koreans on board were employees of Samsung C&T, the Korea Water Resources Corp., the Korea Engineering Consultants Corp. and Seoyeong Engineering. <Korea Times>

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