Helicopter crash: Pilot returns from the dead

A passenger onboard a helicopter that went missing over one of Myanmar's tallest mountains walked into a remote village Tuesday, saying both pilots also survived but were injured and needed help, organizers of the search said.

The helicopter, carrying only three people, disappeared soon after leaving Putao airport in Kachin state on Sept. 27 to drop food for a team searching for two Myanmar climbers.

It remained unclear if it crashed or made an emergency landing.

But on Tuesday afternoon, the sole passenger arrived in Lan Sar village after traveling "many miles" by foot, saying the Thai and Myanmar pilots also were alive, according to the Htoo Foundation, which has been leading the search for both the helicopter and the missing climbers.

He said they were hurt and still deep in the forest.

A team of experienced climbers, villagers and police were preparing to rescue them, the organization said.

The helicopter was looking for two climbers who lost contact with base camp soon after reaching the ice-capped summit of the 5,881-meter (19,300-foot) Hkakabo Razi mountain.

The search for the missing climbers, now presumed dead, involved helicopters from Thailand, the U.S. and China, as well as other mountaineers.

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