17 May,2015 08:51 AM IST | | Agencies
The aircraft went missing on Tuesday as it delivered aid to villages damaged in the earthquake that killed over 8,000 people
The Nepalese army chopper that spotted the wreckage of the US Marine helicopter in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Kathmandu: The bodies of all eight soldiers, who were on a US Marine helicopter when it crashed on an earthquake relief mission in Nepal, have been recovered, Nepalese government and military sources said.
The Nepalese army chopper that spotted the wreckage of the US Marine helicopter in Kathmandu, Nepal. Pic/AP
The bodies of six US Marines and two Nepalese soldiers were recovered near the crash site in remote mountains northeast of Kathmandu.
The wreckage of the UH-1 Huey was found on Friday after days of searching by Nepalese aircraft and US satellites. The aircraft went missing on Tuesday as it delivered aid to villages damaged in last month's earthquake, which killed more than 8,000.
"The cause of death has yet to be determined. The bodies were all badly burned," said Lakshmi Prasad Dhakal, the Nepalese home ministry spokesman said. Lt Gen John Wissler, commander of the Marine-led joint task force said that his team could not immediately identify the cause of the crash. "He described the crash as âsevere,' and said the recovery team at the site encountered extreme weather and difficult terrain," AP says.
A magnitude-7.3 earthquake on Tuesday, the day the helicopter disappeared, killed 117 people in the region.
This was after a 7.8 quake that took more than 8,000 lives on April 25.
