Rescue workers searched for survivors on Friday after a South Korean ambulance helicopter carrying seven people crashed into waters off the country’s eastern coast.
The Airbus Helicopters H225 aircraft, which was carrying a patient to a hospital on the South Korean mainland, crashed shortly after takeoff from Dokdo, officials at Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters said.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it has sent dozens of vessels, planes and 30 divers to search the area, but no passengers were found as of Friday morning.
“We presume that the helicopter crashed into sea within two minutes after liftoff (in Dokdo),” rescue official Seong said during a briefing.
Local media also quoted a South Korean official as saying that the weakening tide had allowed rescuers to expand the search.
The crashed helicopter entered service with the fire department in 2016 and Airbus had checked its automatic rotation axis between September and October this year, Yonhap said, citing South Korean rescue official Seong Ho-seon.
The islets, which both South Korea and Japan claim as their territory, are called Takeshima in Japan. They are controlled by Seoul with a small band of coast guards.
