Five military personnel were killed today when an air force helicopter carrying them crashed into a mountainside in South Korea, the Defence Ministry said.
The crash happened in the central province of Chungchong at 2.20 a.m. Irish time.
The cause of the accident was believed to be bad weather and so far only one of the bodies had been recovered, a ministry spokesman said.
"The rescue effort is still under way, but it has been hindered due to difficulties reaching the crash site," he said.
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The AS-332 helicopter, built by France's Aerospatiale Matra, was assigned to the Korean Airforce's rescue unit.