The families of four of the 14 people killed in a recent helicopter crash in Peru arrived in the South American country Monday as local police stepped up efforts to identify the bodies, including those of eight South Koreans.

The bereaved family members of South Koreans Kim Hyo-jun, 48, and Woo Sang-dae, 39, flew into the southeastern city of Cusco, where the bodies lie in a morgue.

The two men were among a group of construction and engineering officials sent last week to survey a potential site for a hydropower plant near Mazuko in southeastern Peru. They were returning to Cusco by helicopter Wednesday when their aircraft disappeared and was believed to have crashed in the Andes due to bad weather.

The wreckage of the helicopter was discovered Saturday on Mama Rosa mountain at about 4,950 meters above sea level, and the victims' bodies were recovered the following day.

Relatives of two other victims, a 46-year-old South Korean named Yu Dong-bae and a 34-year-old Dutchman, also arrived in Lima later in the day. They plan to fly to Cusco Tuesday morning.

Kim, Woo, Yu and the Dutchman were all employed by Samsung C&T, the engineering and construction arm of Samsung Group. Five more South Koreans were killed in the crash, in addition to three Peruvians, one Swede and one Czech. The other South Koreans worked for the Korea Water Resources Corp., the Korea Engineering Consultants Corp. and Seoyeong Engineering.

In Cusco, the bereaved family members met with officials from the South Korean Embassy in Lima and Samsung C&T to be briefed on details of the crash and its aftermath.

Samsung C&T vice chairman Jung Yeon-joo, who also flew in earlier in the day, met and thanked local police officials for their search efforts and expressed the hope the two countries will work even closer together to ensure the victim's lives were not lost in vain.

South Korean Ambassador to Lima Park Hee-kwon said he was distressed by the many deaths caused by the chopper crash, but thanked the Peruvian government for its cooperation.

"The enthusiasm shown by Peru to support us in the aftermath of the crash was greater than that of an ally," he said.

Peruvian police set out to identify the victims after obtaining their dental records through their families and employers. The bereaved relatives were expected to visit the morgue in the evening to help with the process, while the families of the other victims were scheduled to arrive by Tuesday.

(Yonhap News)