Shillong/Guwahati, Sept. 22: Meghalaya minister Cyprian R. Sangma and two legislators were among 10 persons killed in a helicopter crash near the hilly state?s border with Assam this afternoon.

Poor visibility because of inclement weather is believed to have caused the accident. There were no survivors.

Apart from Cyprian Sangma, the chopper crash killed legislators Heltone Marak (United Democratic Party) and Ardhendu Chaudhuri (Nationalist Congress Party), Garo Hills Autonomous District Council chairman and Congress member Rikseng Marak, deputy director of printing and stationery Nobelson Sangma, joint director of labour Sudhir Shira, businessman Rolenson Marbaniang and information technology minister Mukul Sangma?s father-in-law Ira Marak, a former deputy Speaker.

The two pilots were Captain P. Jain and R. Aman.

The wreckage of the chopper, which was scheduled to land at Shillong around 1.30 pm ? half-an-hour after taking off from Guwahati ? was sighted near Nongkhlah village in Ri Bhoi district. The site is about 30 km from Shillong and adjacent to a dam of the Meghalaya State Electricity Board.

Salvage teams found it difficult to access the crash site because of the terrain and bad weather.

The operation was suspended in the evening and only a police team was deployed in the vicinity to keep watch.

Residents of Nongkhlah said they saw the chopper spiral in the air and crash behind a hillock, bursting into flames instantly.

Sources in the Meghalaya Transport Corporation?s helicopter service wing ? the chopper had been leased to the department by Pawan Hans Aviation Company ? said the chopper first took off from Tura, in the Garo hills of Meghalaya, and stopped for refuelling at Guwahati around 12.45 pm before commencing its journey to Shillong.

Shillong Air Traffic Control lost contact with the helicopter at 1.05 pm, minutes after Capt. Jain asked for permission to return to Guwahati because of zero visibility.

Meghalaya chief minister D.D. Lapang convened an emergency cabinet meeting immediately after being informed of the crash. ?The loss (of lives) is unbearable,? he said after the meeting.

All three politicians who died were young. Cyprian Sangma was in his early thirties, while Chaudhuri had entered politics only recently. The ageing mother, wife and son of Chaudhuri were inconsolable.

A pall of gloom descended on Shillong and Tura as news of the incident spread. Youths from various localities volunteered to assist in the operation to retrieve the bodies.

A defence release issued in Calcutta said an Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter was the first to reach the accident site. Another chopper with a medical team on board did not land on being informed that none of the passengers and pilots had survived the crash.