Kathmandu, Sep 26 (IANS) Nepal will observe a day of mourning Wednesday for the 24 people who died in a helicopter crash last week in the northern part of the country.

The nation's flag would fly at half-mast in the country as well as at its missions abroad and government offices and schools would remain closed, Labour and Transport Management Minister Ramesh Lekhak said.

Those killed in the crash including minister of state for forest and soil conservation Gopal Rai, senior Nepali government officials and conservationists, Finnish Charge d' Affaires, USAID and WWF officials and journalists.

The helicopter, chartered by the WWF for a ceremony in the Kanchanjung base camp area in Taplejung district, was heading for the district headquarters Saturday morning when it went out of contact soon after takeoff from Gunsha village.

After two days of search, hampered by incessant rain and heavy fog, searchers on foot came across the wreck of the chopper belonging to private domestic carrier Shree Airlines, in a remote, mountainous region southwest of the village.

The United Nations' offices in Kathmandu Tuesday also expressed its sorrow.

"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic death of our friends and colleagues who in their mission to help the development of Nepal put their lives at risk," UN resident coordinator in Nepal, Matthew Kahane, said in a statement issued by his office. "It is a terrible loss for the country and the international community."

Kahane said the UN appreciated the remarkable conservation work carried out throughout Nepal by international organisations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), saying they reached out to the most isolated population in the country and created an opportunity to improve their daily lives.