A military helicopter ferrying 10 people injured in the earthquake with four crew members crashed during a mission in the disaster zone in southwest China as the death toll from the May 12 temblor reached over 69,000.

There was no immediate word on the fate of those on board the Russian Mi-171 transport chopper which crashed on Saturday. The helicopter carrying quake relief troops of the Chengdu Military Command (CMC), encountered fog and turbulence before crashing.

The information office of the State Council or the cabinet said that the death toll from the May 12 earthquake rose to 69,016 on Sunday. As of Saturday, 951,975 homeless people had been relocated, Xinhua said.