By Sudeshna Sarkar,

Kathmandu, Sep 25 (IANS) More than 48 hours after a helicopter with 24 people on board went missing in remote northern Nepal, rescue teams Monday came across the wreck of the chopper strewn with bodies.

There were no sign of survivors. Only one body was intact while the others were a jumble of broken limbs and mangled flesh, security sources said.

After bad weather with vicious downpours and a thick fog prevented search and rescue operations during the weekend, four helicopters Monday began a determined sortie in the mountainous Kanchenjunga base camp area in Taplejung district.

Nepal's civil aviation authorities said an army helicopter finally sighted the wreck of the MI-17 chopper belonging to domestic operator Shree Airlines in the afternoon southwest of Gunsha village, the place where it had gone missing Saturday morning soon after taking off.

It was not clear immediately whether the helicopter had crashed due to bad weather or an explosion. After it lost contact Saturday and a search began, the locals said they had heard a loud explosion.

Abandoning further search and rescue operations, Nepal's aviation authorities now began readying for the tragic task of bringing the bodies back to Kathmandu and informing the grieving relatives. A Shree Airlines helicopter was ready to head towards the wreck site but was prevented by the weather worsening again in the Ghunsa area, Nepal's official media said.

Even the army helicopter that sighted the wreck and the bodies could not land due to adverse weather conditions, it added.

The chances of finding survivors had begun fading fast Sunday when none of the passengers came in contact though at least three of them were carrying satellite phones. The freezing cold and the inhospitable terrain also made survival near impossible.

In the midst of its biggest festival of Dasain, Nepal began mourning the dead who included a minister and his wife, foreign dignitaries and top government officials.

Besides Gopal Rai, Nepal's minister for forest and soil conservation, and his wife Meena, the passenger list also included Finland's charge d'affaires in Nepal, Pauli Mustonnen, deputy director of American government's aid agency USAID, Margaret Alexander, WWF's country director in Nepal, Dr Chandra Gurung, conservation director for the UK chapter, Dr 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 helicopter had been chartered by the WWF for a ceremony in Taplejung Friday.