2 killed in South Korea helicopter crash

ANKARA (AA) - Two South Korean Coast Guard personnel were killed while another was wounded when their helicopter crashed during a search mission off the coast of Taiwan.

According to Yonhap News Agency, four people were aboard the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter when it went down in waters 370 kilometers (229 miles) southwest of Mara Island.

A co-pilot and a vessel radar operator were killed while the pilot was wounded. Another crew member is missing.

"Following the helicopter's crash, the patrol boat's crew rescued three people and two of them died, while one remains missing," the agency quoted a Coast Guard official as saying.

The crash occurred soon after the helicopter took off to return to Busan after dropping a rescue team on patrol boat for a search and rescue operation for the missing South Korean tug boat and its crew member in waters near Taiwan.

* Writing by Islamuddin Sajid