Taiwan's Foreign Ministry Expresses Condolences Over Defense Ministry Helicopter's Crash

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry on Thursday expressed its sympathies to the families and friends of people killed as a result of an emergency landing of a helicopter carrying senior officials of the Defense Ministry, including Chief of General Staff Shen Yi-ming

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd January, 2020) The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry on Thursday expressed its sympathies to the families and friends of people killed as a result of an emergency landing of a helicopter carrying senior officials of the Defense Ministry, including Chief of General Staff Shen Yi-ming.

Earlier in the day, the UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopter disappeared from radar and was later confirmed to have crash-landed in mountains near Yilan City in the northern part of the island. Of 13 people on board, eight were killed.

"Our heartfelt sympathies to the families & friends of those who lost their lives during the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter emergency landing in northern Taiwan.

The country deeply mourns Chief of the General Staff Gen. Shen Yi-ming & the other brave & dedicated military personnel," the ministry said on Twitter.

The aircraft reportedly made an emergency landing at about 9:00 a.m. local time (01:00 GMT).

Aside from Shen, the list of passengers reportedly included Political Warfare Bureau Deputy Director Yu Chin-wen, New Deputy Chief of Logistics of the General Staff Headquarters Maj. Gen. Huang Yu-min, Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Communications-Electronics and Information Maj. Gen. Tsao Chin-ping and reporter for the Military news Agency Chen Ying-chu.