PHNOM PENH   -  The search for a missing military helicopter with two people on board in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains has entered its 10th day, a spokesperson said on Monday. The chopper had lost contact with the air force headquarters while flying over the densely forested Cardamom Mountain range in Pursat and Koh Kong provinces during a training flight on July 12 due to bad weather.

Gen. Chhum Socheat, secretary of state and spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, said rescuers have been relentlessly searching for the missing helicopter, as the weather has improved since Sunday. “We hope to locate the missing helicopter soon,” he said. Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Tea Seiha has said that the chopper has gone missing with two people on board -- a pilot and an assistant.

“The helicopter was flying during a training mission and had got into difficulties due to acute bad weather,” he said.