A helicopter carrying relief materials crashed north of Nepal's capital in the Sindhupalchok district on Tuesday, killing four people, according to reports. Image from Google Maps

KATHMANDU, Nepal, June 2 (UPI) -- At least four people are dead after their helicopter crashed while ferrying relief materials in a mountainous region of Nepal, according to reports.

The aircraft belonged to Kathmandu-based Mountain Helicopters and crashed north of the capital in a forested area near Yamuna Balefi Village in the country's Sindhupalchok district, police say.


Indian media quoted a senior official who said Nepalese troops recovered the bodies of three men and a woman from the crash site. The helicopter reportedly caught fire at some point.

The incident follows last month's crash of a U.S. Marine Huey helicopter that had been deployed to the region to support humanitarian operations following a late-April 7.9-magnitude earthquake, that killed thousands of people. After the chopper initially went missing, search crews found the crash site along with the bodies of six Marines and two Nepalese soldiers.

A United Nations official on Tuesday said up to 2.8 million Nepalese people are in need of humanitarian aid following the April 25 earthquake and its aftershocks, including more than 800,000 who live in remote, mountainous areas.