Chief of the Taiwanese General Staff Shen Yi-min was among eight killed in a military helicopter crash on Thursday, Chinese state media reported.
A black hawk helicopter (UH-60M) with 13 onboard crashed on Thursday morning in the mountains outside the capital of Taipei, reported China Daily.
Earlier, it was reported that 10 people have survived the incident but the defence ministry of Taiwan stated that only five survivors had been rescued.
The cause of the incident remains unknown.