SEOUL, South Korea - A South Korean army helicopter crashed into a mountain near Seoul early Wednesday, killing all seven people on board, an army officer said.
The UH-1H went down in Yangpyong, about 25 miles east of Seoul around 1:40 a.m. (1640 GMT), army spokesman Lt. Col. Ko Dong-hun told The Associated Press.
Two pilots, two medical officers and three soldiers died when the aircraft crashed while returning to base after transporting an emergency patient to a military hospital, he said. One woman was among the dead.
Ko said soldiers were recovering the bodies from the mountain to transport them to a military hospital.
The chopper disappeared from radar and lost communications shortly before the accident, said Ko, adding that an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the crash.
The UH-1H, first introduced to South Korea in mid-1960s, is used for transporting troops and military equipment, Ko said.
Last year, three helicopters and two fighter jets crashed in South Korea.
