LONDON: Five persons have been killed when a helicopter crashed amid "atrocious" conditions in a mountainous part in the UK's north Wales, police said today.
A massive air and land search was launched yesterday afternoon after the helicopter vanished en route from Luton, outside London, to Dublin, Ireland.
Superintendent Gareth Evans of North Wales Police said today the crash site has been located and the bodies of all five people on board have been found.
He said: "The aircraft, a red Twin Squirrel helicopter, had failed to arrive in Dublin from Luton yesterday afternoon instigating a full sea and then land search and rescue operation."
"Local conditions were described as atrocious with visibility down to less than 10 metres in places. The terrain where the aircraft has been located is remote and in places hazardous...I'd also ask people to refrain from visiting the area as it is now subject of a full investigation."
A mountain rescue team found the wreckage in the Rhinog mountains between Trawsfynydd and Harlech in Wales.
Formal identification of the bodies has not yet taken place and the coroner for north west Wales, Dewi Pritchard-Jones, has opened an investigation.
Family of those killed have been informed and an investigation into the crash is being led by the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch.