Kathmandu, May 15 (IANS): More than 60 hours after it was reported missing, the debris of a US helicopter that crashed in the mountainous terrain of Nepal were recovered on Friday by a search and rescue mission which also found the bodies of three of the eight people on board.

"Our team has found three dead bodies from the site, but we are yet to confirm their identities," Surya Kant Panthi, spokesperson of Nepal's defence ministry told Xinhua news agency

There were eight people on board the military UH-1Y Huey helicopter -- six US marines and two Nepalese soldiers.

A search and rescue team from the Nepal Army has been mobilised in the area to gain more information about the crash and locate the remaining bodies.

"We are trying to find out more," Panthi said.

The missing helicopter was spotted Friday morning at Ghorthali in Sindhupalchok district at an elevation of around 11,200 feet.

The chopper, which was on a rescue mission in the worst quake-hit areas of Dolakha, lost contact with the Kathmandu airport's control tower on Tuesday.

A quake of 7.9 magnitude struck Nepal on April 25.