Malaysian rescuers search for helicopter that vanished with 6 air force crew

KUALA LUMPUR (AP) - Search parties scoured hilly rain forests Saturday for six Malaysian air force personnel whose helicopter went missing during a routine flight, police said.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force helicopter disappeared in foggy weather Friday while transporting crew from Kuala Lumpur to a military base in the central state of Pahang.

More than 100 police, soldiers and other rescue personnel were combing the area by air and on the ground, but no signs of the helicopter had been found Saturday, a district police official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

Abu Kasim, a witness who said he saw the helicopter flying low in the area before it vanished, said he and his friends did not hear any explosion that might have indicated the helicopter had crashed, the national news agency Bernama reported.