SWITZERLAND: WWF expresses condolences to families of those killed in helicopter crash in Nepal.

WWF Director General James Leape expressed his condolences to the families of 24 passengers of the helicopter that crashed in Nepal on Saturday afternoon. "There were 24 people on this helicopter, including 7 staff of WWF, all together it represented some of the most important leadership of the conservation movement in Nepal, and certainly many of the leaders of the WWF's efforts in Nepal and elsewhere. It is a huge loss for this organisation but also for conservation in Nepal and of course for the families of these 24 people", James Leape said. A Nepali army rescue team located on Monday the wreckage of a helicopter chartered by conservation group WWF, two days after it went missing in bad weather with 24 people on board. The army helicopter found the crashed aircraft one nautical mile southwest of Ghunsa, a village in Taplejung district, about 300 km (190 miles) east of the capital, Kathmandu. The search for the missing Russian-made helicopter had been hampered by incessant rains and fog which prevented rescue helicopters taking off. The weather had also hampered a ground search for the helicopter that had been chartered by conservation group WWF. The area, located above 3,500 metres (11,480 feet), is very remote and with few villages, in a rugged landscape dominated by ravines and gorges, officials said. Of the 20 passengers and four crew, 17 were Nepalis. Others included a Finnish diplomat, two Americans, a Canadian and an Australian, as well as two Russians. Nepal's junior forest minister, Gopal Rai, his wife, Finnish Charge d'Affaires Pauli Mustonen, and the deputy director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Nepal, Margaret Alexander, were among them. Other passengers were conservationists working for the WWF and two Nepali television journalists. The passengers had attended the handover of a WWF project to the local community and were on their way back. The helicopter left Ghunsa village at about noon (0615 GMT) but never arrived at its destination in Taplejung town, a 20-minute flight.

ITN Source | September 26, 2006

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