US rescue chopper down off Alaska

The freighter drifted towards the Alaskan shore and broke up

A US Coast Guard helicopter has crashed into the Bering Sea with 10 people on board during the attempted rescue of the crew of a stricken freighter.

Four of those on board have been picked up and taken to hospital but six are unaccounted for, the Coast Guard said.

The 40,000-ton Malaysian-registered freighter Selendang Ayu ran aground on Unalaska Island, in the Aleutian chain off south-western Alaska.

The island is a sensitive wildlife habitat and crab fishery.

The Coast Guard said the freighter had subsequently broken in two, but one of its rescue swimmers remained on board along with the master of the vessel.

The freighter's main engine broke down on Tuesday. The ship was carrying soya beans on a trans-Pacific voyage, reportedly to Japan, and also had 440,000 gallons of fuel on board.

The Coast Guard said it was bringing oil containment equipment to Unalaska Island's Dutch Harbor to contain any spill.

Condition unknown

Coast Guard Rear Adm James Olson told the Associated Press news agency that at the time of the helicopter crash, most of the crew had already been evacuated from the freighter.

Those remaining on board had been doing what they could to save the ship, he added.

The four people who were rescued after the helicopter crash were taken to Dutch Harbor. Their condition is unknown.

Coast guards said that searches would continue for the remaining six, but that survival time in the cold heavy seas was estimated to be just three hours.

The 738-foot-long freighter was a single-deck bulk carrier built in China in 1998. It was owned by IMC Transworld, a subsidiary of Singapore-based IMC Group.