HANOI (Reuters) – A helicopter piloted by a soldier, carrying four tourists, crashed on Wednesday, killing two people, near UNESCO World Heritage site Ha Long Bay in northeast Vietnam, military-run newspaper People’s Army reported.
The U.S.-made Bell 505 helicopter, owned by the Northern Helicopter Company, a unit of Vietnam’s Defense Ministry, took off at 16:56 (09:56 GMT) and lost contact at 17:15, People’s Army newspaper reported.
Two bodies and debris were found near the shore, the report said, noting that local military forces formed a search and rescue team as soon as the helicopter lost signal.
The Ha Long Bay aerial tour is advertised as costing 2.5 million to 7.35 million dong ($106.54 to $313.23) for 10 to 30 minutes respectively.
($1 = 23,465 dong)
(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Richard Chang)
