https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...licopter-crash

Taiwan military chief among eight killed in helicopter crash landing

Taiwan’s top military official was among eight people killed when a helicopter crash-landed on Thursday in a mountainous area near the capital, Taipei, the defence ministry has said. The chief of general staff, air force general Shen Yi-ming, died in the incident while five of the 13 people onboard survived, the military.

The defence ministry said aviation authorities lost contact with the Black Hawk helicopter at 8.22am local time and it dispatched a rescue team. The helicopter had left Taipei on a mission to visit soldiers in the north-east county of Yilan.

Taiwan is due to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on 11 January. The president, Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking re-election, cancelled all campaign activities until Saturday and urged authorities to make every effort at rescue. She was scheduled to deliver a speech at 3pm........