A helicopter with seven people on board crashed in Nepal on Saturday, AFP reported. One among the six passengers has survived.

“Six passengers, including a Japanese national, died after a chopper with 7 people aboard crashed in Nepal,” Nuwakot Chief District Officer Uddab Bahadur Thapa told ANI. “One female passenger has been rescued.”

The helicopter crash-landed in the forest area bordering Dhading and Nuwakot districts, The Himalayan Times reported quoting eyewitnesses. Nima Nuru Sherpa, the managing director at Altitude Air Pvt Ltd, said local residents spotted the aircraft’s wreckage in a remote location in Nuwakot district.

The Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu said rescue helicopters, soldiers and police were searching the mountainous areas, both on air and foot, for any survivors.

“Rescuers have been struggling hard to reach the accident site,” Sherpa said. He said that adverse weather conditions and difficult terrain have made the operations difficult. Sherpa added that the helicopter had not caught fire.

The chopper, which took off from Samagaun in Gorkha district carrying a patient and five other passengers to Kathmandu, lost contact with the air traffic control in the Nepal capital after flying some 20 miles (32 kilometres).

General Manager at Tribhuvan International Airport Raj Kumar Chhetri told Xinhua news agency earlier in the day that the helicopter was missing since 7.45 am local time (7.30 am Indian Standard Time).