Chopper Down in Lesotho Mountains

[Gunship]

Search Suspended

The search for two men, who are missing after their helicopter crashed into Lesotho's Katse Dam on Tuesday morning, was suspended at nightfall.

Late on Tuesday, officials were still describing their efforts as a "search and rescue" operation rather than a recovery operation.

However, it is feared that the pilot and a senior official of the Lesotho Highlands Development Agency (LHDA) went down with the helicopter when it hit the water between 09:00 and 10:00.

The Katse Dam is the deepest in southern Africa and the wreckage of the Lesotho Defence Force helicopter is lying under 98m metres of water, around 50m from the side of the dam near Bokong.

Three survivors, all members a German film crew, were in a stable condition by Tuesday evening in a Bloemfontein hospital after receiving treatment.

They had managed to swim out of the wreckage to safety, said George van der Merwe, a spokesperson for the LHDA.

Van der Merwe said the search operation was severely hampered by the depth of the water and sheer cliffs surrounding the dam.

South African police divers flown to Katse to assist in the operation and were expected to arrive soon, Van der Merwe said on Tuesday evening.

Senior military personnel from the Lesotho Defence Force and officials from both the LHDA and the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission were also flown to Katse to help.

Van der Merwe said that when the helicopter crashed, it very nearly crashed into a boat whose crew were taking water samples from the dam.

The survivors were rescued by the crew of the boat.

They were stabilised at the Katse Clinic, from where they were flown to Bloemfontein by Ambulance Air Africa.

The Germans had completed filming over the Katse Dam and were on their way to the Mohale Dam when the accident happened.

Van der Merwe said it was unclear what caused the helicopter to lose altitude. According to eyewitnesses it was flying low over the water.

Refiloe Tlali, the acting chief executive of the LHDA, said the accident was a major setback for the organisation.

The missing official was a member of its executive management.

The missing men's names could not be released because their next-of-kin had not yet been informed.