By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sep 24 (IANS) Even as soldiers from Nepal's army began a ground hunt in the remote north to locate the helicopter that went missing with 24 people, including a minister and officials of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on board on Saturday, there was no sign of the chopper after aerial searches were thwarted by rain and poor visibility.

The hope of finding safe all the 24 people aboard the MI-17 helicopter while returning from the northern area, an inhospitable terrain with high mountains, thick forests and bad roads, began fading fast as none of the passengers or crew members had come in contact though some of them were carrying sophisticated communication equipment.

The fear that the chopper could have crashed was strengthened with several residents in the district telling the media they had heard a loud explosion soon after the aircraft took off.

Belonging to a domestic Nepali airline, Shree Airlines, the helicopter had been hired by WWF for a ceremony in the Kanchanjunga base camp area Friday. It went missing around a village called Gunsha while returning to capital Kathmandu.

The aviation authorities were alarmed when the aircraft failed to come in contact after the end of the 17-minute flight.

Four helicopters, including two belonging to the Nepal Army, were readied Sunday to begin an aerial search. Though an army chopper scouted the probable crash site for nearly two hours in the morning, the search had to be suspended due to the worsening weather.

Rain and fog hindered vision, reducing visibility to about 200m. Weather experts in Kathmandu warned the bad weather would continue till Monday at least.

The aviation authorities announced a reward NRS 201000 (about $2700) for any information about the whereabouts of the chopper or its passengers. Till late afternoon, there was no response.

Flown by a Russian pilot, the chopper was carrying a four-member crew and 20 passengers, many of them VIPs. On board were Nepal's Minister of State for Forest and Soil Conservation Gopal Rai, his wife Meena Rai, Finland's charge d'affaires in Nepal Pauli Mustonnen, deputy director of American government's aid agency USAID Margaret Alexander, senior government officials and two journalists.

It also carried several WWF top brass, including its country director in Nepal, Chandra Gurung, conservation director for the British chapter Jill Bowling, British coordinator Jennifer Headley, programme officer for the US chapter Matthew Preece and managing director of the US chapter's Eastern Himalayan Programme Mingma Norbu Sherpa.

The government officials included Narayan Poudel, director general at the department of national parks and wildlife conservation, Sharad Rai, director general of department of forests and acting secretary at the ministry of forest and soil conservation, Damodar Parajuli.

As aerial searches had to be shelved, a team of 90 soldiers and police personnel began a ground search, a difficult and time-consuming process.

According to media reports, they would be able to reach the Gunsha area only on Monday.

At Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport, an unspecified number of aircraft were kept ready with emergency and medical supplies as well as elite troops well versed in mountaineering to launch an immediate rescue once the aircraft or its wreck was spotted.

Left with little hope, Nepal began praying for the safety of the passengers. Rai's family in Kathmandu began a ritual worship in the hope it would propitiate the gods and ensure the missing people's safe return.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who has been working from his residence due to ill health, Sunday went to the residence of the minister from his Nepali Congress party, to commiserate with the grieving relatives.

"We need the power of everyone's prayers," a stricken Banwari Lal Mittal, owner of Shree Airlines, said.

The missing chopper revives the memory of an incident four years ago that still remains one of the mysteries in Nepal's aviation history.

In 2002, a Russian MI-17 helicopter, belonging to Asian Airlines disappeared on its way to Lukla district in the north, considered the gateway to the Everest region.

It was carrying 10 members of a French mountaineering expedition, including Nepali porters and guides.