TOKYO: Japan’s coast guard says it is searching for an army helicopter carrying 10 crew members that went missing off a southern Japanese island.

The coast guard said it received information that a Ground Self-Defense Force UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter disappeared from radar on a mission Thursday evening in an area north of Miyako island.

It said four patrol ships are participating in the search but have not found any traces of the missing aircraft.

Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio said the Defense Ministry is investigating and “We will do our utmost to save their lives.”

NHK public television said the helicopter, participating in a land survey, disappeared from radar about an hour after it departed from a base on Miyako island and about half an hour before its scheduled return.

AP