All three crew members of a Thai helicopter that went missing while delivering supplies in the search for two Burmese mountaineers on Hkakabo Razi have been found alive, according to the expedition sponsors, Htoo Foundation.

The three, Thai pilot Chatchawal Thanthong, Burmese co-pilot Aung Myat Toe and the Htoo Foundation’s Shwe Yin Taw Gyi, were on the Eurocopter EC130 B4 helicopter when it lost contact 20 minutes after leaving Putao in Kachin State on the afternoon of 27 September.

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Speaking to DVB on Tuesday evening, Htoo Foundation spokesperson Phyo Ko Ko Thet said, “We have been just informed that the two pilots and U Shwe Yin Taw Gyi – the missing B4 helicopter crew – arrived in a village named Lanka about 45 minutes ago. This is all we know for now and we are working to immediately provide them medical assistance.”

While he could not provide any details about the state of the helicopter, he said all three crew members were in good shape.

The helicopter lost contact while flying to deliver supplies to a search and rescue team at the mountains base camp in Tahomdom village. The Thai helicopter was part of an international effort to find missing mountaineers Aung Myint Myat and Wai Yan Min Thu who have not been heard from since shortly after they scaled the summit of Hkakabo Razai, the highest mountain peak in Southeast Asia.