Eight bodies identified in US copter crash in Nepal

Eight bodies recovered from the crash site of a US Marines chopper in the rugged area of Gorthali in Nepal, have been identified, officials say.

The bodies of six US Marines and two Nepalese soldiers who were aboard a US Marines helicopter while in a relief mission have been identified, the Nepalese army said on Sunday.

The debris of Huey helicopter, reported missing on Tuesday, was found Friday, after days of intense searching, conducted by both US and Nepalese army personnel, in the mountains northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital.

Three out of the eight charred bodies were retrieved on Friday and the rest were discovered on Saturday.

The helicopter had dropped off supplies of rice and tarpaulin on Tuesday in Charikot, an area worst hit by an earthquake on the same day and was en route to a second location when contact was lost.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined. However, US military officials say an Indian chopper, flying nearby, had overheard radio chatter from Huey about a possible fuel problem.

The Tuesday quake, killing at least 117 people and injuring about 2,800, centered between the capital Kathmandu and Mount Everest.

The quake came less than three weeks after a 7.8-magnitude seism that killed more than 8,000 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes in Nepal. The devastating temblor also killed more than 100 people in India and China.

RS/HMV/SS

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