A Forest Fire raged out of control in Mandal Soum, Selenge Aimag.

An emergency team of 22 emergency response personell left Ulaanbaatar on June 13, 2007 for Selenge aimag in a MI-8 helicopter. Their task was to extinguish a forest fire that was burning in the areas of the Tsant Mountain and Khon River in Yeroo and Mandal soums. The team comprised 16 parachuters - firemen of the special rescue unit of the General Emergency Authority, three pilots and an operator of the emergency service. The group was led by the head of emergency management department, Commissioner D.Batbaatar and the head of fire-fighting service, G.Tserennyam.

Around 9 p.m. of the same day, the team got into contact from Mandal soum and reported they had encountered unfavorable weather and covering mist. Just after informing the Fire Command Center that they were approaching a possible landing zone communications with the team were lost. A search was started immediatly but was temporarily stopped due to the bad weather. Later, last Sunday, a search and recovery group found the helicopter crash site in the dense forests almost 10 kilometers from the fire front.

The rescue team found eight persons still alive. In the night of the 17-18th of June, a steppe team from Zuunkharaa soum worked efficiently to rescue people. As a result, four seriously injured survivors were brought to the Traumatology center in Ulaanbaatar on Monday morning at 8:40 a.m. The remaining four persons were delivered to the Traumatology center at 10:45 a.m. The center's doctors are making all efforts to save their lives. There is no shortage in medicines, injections and medical equipment. Doctors are saying that 50 per cent of survivors have severe head injuries of a kind that could cause long term brain defects and about 30 per cent - severe damage in their thoracic cavities from the crash.

On Monday, around 1 p.m, corpses of 13 persons were taken from the accident spot. Rescuers are working in a difficult situation because most of the corpses are trapped inside the wreckage of the helicopter. More than 60 rescuers worked with three helicopters to transport the dead.

The loss of this brave fire crew has been viewed as a national and international tragedy.