Search for missing Thai military chopper continued

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND, August 14 (TNA) - An Aerostar Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has been used in an intensifying search operation for a missing military helicopter that lost contact in Chiang Mai Province in the Thai North on August 14. Royal Thai Air force Commander-in-Chief Air Chief Marshal Treetod Sonjance has ordered the air squadron 4 in Ta Khee area of Nakhon Sawan Province in the Lower Thai North to send the UAV to join the searching operation. The ground and aerial operation, obstructed by bad weather on Sunday, has been resumed after the UH-72 Lakota chopper with five officers on board, including Major General Nopporn Ruanchan, Commander of the 4th Infantry Division, lost contact on their return from a flood relief operation in Mae Hong Son Province, heading back to Phitsanulok Province. Rescue teams have limited their search area to the Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, where fuel smell was recently reported. About 400 forestry officials, border patrol police and army rangers have joined the search on foot amid downpours. (TNA)