Mumbai, Sep 29 (IANS): All five people from a private company were killed early Sunday after their helicopter crashed in the hills in Maharashtra's Thane district, aviation sources said.

The accident happened shortly after the chopper took off from Mumbai's Juhu Airport for Aurangabad and went missing for several hours, said an official requesting anonymity.

A few hours later, police and other officials located the debris of the helicopter near Naneghat hills, around 40 km from Murbad sub-district in Thane.

According to preliminary investigation, the helicopter encountered severe inclement weather and heavy rains in several areas.

Owing to poor visibility, the chopper is believed to have got entangled in overheard high-tension electric cables and crashed.

Police officer S.P. Bhalerao told IANS that all five occupants of the chopper were dead.

They included three crew members and two engineers of the chopper belonging to United Helicharters Pvt Ltd.