Military officials on Tuesday announced that a helicopter carrying six U.S. marines on a relief mission for the Nepal earthquake victims is missing and is now the subject of a search mission.

U.S. Pacific Command spokesperson Maj. Dave Eastburn on Tuesday declared the helicopter missing at 9:00 am EDT. The UH-1Y Huey helicopter, which was conducting a relief mission after the most recent Nepal earthquake, was carrying six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese soldiers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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The U.S. has since launched an aerial search for the missing aircraft, while Nepal has started a ground search. At night, the U.S. temporarily halted its air search for the helicopter on the Nepal earthquake mission, but promised to resume it the following day. Meanwhile, Nepal's search is still ongoing.

Army officials have yet to confirm reports that the helicopter crashed while conducting the relief mission after the Nepal earthquake. But because it has been hours since they had lost contact from the helicopter crew, they are suspecting a crash, the report stated.

Still, Pentagon spokesperson Col. Steve Warren said they did not detect an emergency beacon in the area and that there are no indications that the helicopter had crashed, Fox News reported.

However, some of the crew members of other helicopters heard the pilot of the missing aircraft mention a fuel problem, the report added.

The helicopter went missing near Charikot where the crew was part of a humanitarian mission to assist the Nepal earthquake victims, Eastburn detailed. He also described the area as a very rugged place, thus the slowdown in their search efforts.

The missing helicopter was carrying onbard food, water, and housing materials for the Nepal earthquake survivors. The aircraft had dropped off the supplies, the helicopter had been transporting victims injured in the Nepal earthquake to medical facilities, said Eastburn.

Charikot was struck by a 7.3-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday which left 37 people dead, according to a Reuters report cited by Fox. The first Nepal earthquake hit the country almost three weeks ago and had killed over 8,000 individuals.

TagsNepal, Nepal Earthquake, earthquake survivors, U.S Marines, missing helicopter