CHENGDU, June 16 (Xinhua) -- A memorial ceremony was held here on Monday
for five helicopter crew members killed when their aircraft crashed on a quake
relief mission on May 31.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is also General Secretary of the Communist
Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission
(CMC), laid wreaths. So did top military generals including CMC Vice Chairmen
Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou.
The memorial ceremony is held for five helicopter crew members
who were dead when their aircraft crashed in a quake relief mission, in Chengdu,
capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 16, 2008. The Mi-171
military transport helicopter was carrying injured civilians when it crashed
deep in the mountains in air turbulence on a return trip from Lixian County to
Chengdu on May 31.
Li Jinai, head of the General Political Department of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army (PLA), read a message of condolence from President Hu.
Xu Caihou, on behalf of Hu Jintao and other CMC leaders, expressed profound
condolences over the crew members' death, and conveyed sympathy and solicitude
to their families.
Xu called them the heroic quake-relief crew and the pride of the PLA,
saying their merits will be forever engraved in people's minds.
The Mi-171 military transport helicopter crashed 7.5 kilometers from
Yingxiu on May 31. Searchers found the crash site after a 12-day search.
The memorial ceremony is held for five helicopter crew members
who were dead when their aircraft crashed in a quake relief mission, in Chengdu,
capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 16, 2008.
The helicopter was carrying injured civilians when it crashed deep in the
mountains in turbulence on a return trip from Lixian County to Chengdu.
The bodies of the crew were cremated in the Sichuan Provincial capital
Chengdu last Friday.
Hu Jintao signed an order to bestow Senior Colonel Qiu Guanghua, the
helicopter pilot, with a posthumous first-class merit on June 14.
Chengdu Military Command Area also awarded posthumous first-rank merits to
the other four crew members, Li Yue, Wang Huaiyuan, Chen Lin and Zhang Peng.
