The US has sent support to Nepal following a series of devastating earthquakes in an attempt to provide aid to the Himalayan nation. Today we have a sad reminder that such missions are not free from risk and danger, as a missing Marine helicopter has been found crashed on a mountainside. Three bodies have already been found, and the US search team expects to find no survivors:

The wreckage of a U.S. military helicopter lost on an earthquake relief mission was found on Friday, high on a mountainside in Nepal, with three bodies recovered and the other five people on board feared dead.

A U.S. search team identified the wreckage as that of the missing Marines UH-1Y Huey helicopter deployed after the Himalayan state was hit by a massive earthquake last month that killed more than 8,000 people.

Crash debris was found just 8 miles (13 km) north of the town of Charikot, said Army Major Dave Eastburn, spokesman for the U.S. military’s regional Pacific Command.

The families of the Marines have waited for word on the fate of the crew, including the parents of Captain Chris Norgren, who spoke to KAKE in Wichita earlier in the week:

According to The Blaze, this particular crew had been delivering food aid to Charikot, one of the worst-hit cities in Nepal during the quakes. The Marine Corps needed to work quickly in order to get the aid deliveries complete before the start of the monsoon season next month. It’s the kind of challenging logistical mission at which Marines and the US excel, but the terrain is extremely challenging — in this case, deadly.

These Marines and Nepalese soldiers gave their lives in service to others, and upheld the highest traditions of their services. Godspeed.