Taiwan military chief killed in helicopter crash landing

Taiwan’s chief of the general staff, general Shen Yi-ming, has been killed along with seven other people after a helicopter crash-landed into mountains near Taipei.
A rescue mission has been launched immediately after the crash of Taiwan’s Air Force UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter. According to the country’s defence ministry, there were 13 people on board, five of which survived.
The defense ministry said the helicopter dropped from the radar screen 10 minutes after takeoff from Songshan air force base, and went down in a heavily forested area.
The cause of the crash is still unknown, but the pilots were very experienced. Taiwan bought the Black Hawk helicopters from its main arms supplier, the United States.
Shen Yi-ming was responsible for overseeing Taiwan’s defense against China, which threatens forceful merger to what it considers part of its territory.
Ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections that are to be held on 11 January, the country’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, has cancelled all campaign activities until 4 January and urged authorities to step up rescue efforts.
“We must find out the reason for the incident. Most importantly, (we) must ensure the stability of our military and national defense”, Tsai said.