SDF Helicopter with 10 people disappears near Japan's Okinawa

A helicopter of Japan's Self-Defense Force (SDF) with 10 people on board disappeared on Thursday off the southwestern prefecture of Okinawa, local media reported.

The UH-60 multipurpose chopper flying around Okinawa's Miyakojima Island disappeared from the radar at around 4.40 p.m. (local time), Xinhua news agency quoted public broadcaster NHK as saying.

The SDF and the Coast Guard are searching for the helicopter, which belongs to a unit in the Kumamoto prefecture.