Nepali official denies helicopter crash ( World Wildlife Fund.. 24 lost)

[SoCalDem]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/24/content_5129629.htm

Nepali official denies helicopter crash
www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-24 13:53:34

KATHMANDU, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- A government official with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Sunday refuted reports that a helicopter has crashed with a state minister, diplomats and other prominent figures on board.

Bimalesh Karna, chief of the Rescue Coordination Committee at the CAAN, said that the condition of the missing helicopter was still unknown as the three helicopters that went for search operation could not carry out the job due to bad weather conditions. Now all three helicopters are grounded and waiting for improvement in the weather condition, said the official.

However, officials admitted that the chopper might have crashed because no crew members responded to the CAAN officials who tried to contact them.

Local people said that they felt stink around a hill near Ghumsa village from where the helicopter left for the district headquarters of Taplejung in eastern Nepal, according to local media reports. The local people also said that they heard a big sound of explosion around the area. "However, the condition of the helicopter missing from Saturday morning in the area of some 600 km east of Kathmandu is still unknown." Damodar Parajuli, secretary at the Forest Ministry; Pauli Mustonen, charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of Finland; Margaret Alexander of the United States Agency for International Development and WWF staff were on board.

Mingma N Sherpa of WWF-U.S., Jill Bowling and Jennifer Headley of WWF-Britain, media people related to Nepal Television, four crew members along with prominent personalities were also traveling on the helicopter. Meanwhile, the CAAN has announced a cash prize of 2,702 U.S. dollars for those providing first-hand information about the whereabouts of the helicopter.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala vowed Sunday morning that the government would make utmost efforts in searching and rescuing the people who were missing along with the helicopter. Enditem

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. "denying" and "refuting" are the wrong words to use

though something may have got lost in translation between the various languages. The helicopter went missing in bad weather, there are reports of an explosion, and there was no call from the helicopter saying either it was about to make an emergency landing, or that it had (though I suppose in a mountainous area, a call from the ground might not work). It was only a short flight - 20 minutes - so I think if they were OK, they'd have been able to get to a village somewhere. The reports of a crash certainly aren't 'refuted' - they just can't be confirmed, but they remain the most likely case.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5373624.stm

[acmavm]

2. Does this mean that they could smell fire??????????????? WTF>>

<snip>

Local people said that they felt stink around a hill near Ghumsa village from where the helicopter left for the district headquarters of Taplejung in eastern Nepal, according to local media reports.

<snip>

[Knurled99]

3. I think that's just a literal translation...

Which would go something like "the local people detected a bad smell"