Taiwan top general killed in helicopter crash

Taiwan's top general has been confirmed dead after a helicopter made an emergency landing in northern Taiwan, the island's defense ministry said on Thursday.

Chief of general staff General Shen Yi-ming and seven other people were killed after the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter crashed in mountains near Taipei, according to defense ministry spokesman Shih Shun-wen.

Five others have been rescued.

Shen, 62, and several top military officials were on a routine mission to visit soldiers in the northeast Yilan county before the lunar new year later this month.

For a few hours following the crash, the fate of Taiwan's top general was unclear, with conflicting reports claiming that he was among the five people who survived, while another said he remained missing.