Bodies of 5 Thai army men retrieved from helicopter wreckage in northern forest

The bodies of five deceased army soldiers were found on Monday following an apparent crashlanding of their utility helicopter in a forest area of Chiang Mai province on Sunday.

The remains of the five soldiers, including the Fourth Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Nopporn Ruenchand, two pilots and two mechanics, were found at a wreckage site of their helicopter a few km from a radar station on Doi Indanond hill in the northern Thai province, Third Army Region commander Lt. Gen. Somsak Nilbancherdkul said.

Search and rescue personnel braved heavy downpours and thick fog in mountainous area to retrieve the bodies of killed in the crashlanding of the UH-72 Lakota helicopter.

The search for the missing helicopter and its crew had begun since Sunday afternoon, was called off in late afternoon due to unfavorable weather conditions and resumed Monday morning.

The UH-72 light utility helicopter could not be reached by ground control since Sunday's mid-morning hours as the aircraft was on its way from Mae Hongson province, west of Chiang Mai, to its base of the Fourth Infantry Division in Pitsanulok province, southeast of Chiang Mai. Endit