A monument to the Flying Tigers, the United States airmen who supported China's fight against Japanese invaders during World War II, has been erected on a mountain near Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Sixty years ago, a US bomber returning from a mission ran out of fuel and crashed on Xiling Snow Mountain near Chengdu.

Debris from the plane and the remains of the 11 crew members, all of whom were killed in the crash, were recovered by a non-governmental mountaineering organization in July 2001. The debris of the plane's engine has been donated to the Museum of the Chinese Revolution, which merged into the National Museum of China last year.

The new monument stands at the spot of the crash.

The Flying Tigers were formed more than 60 years ago by General Claire Lee Chennault, commander of the US 14th Air Fleet during World War II, to support China's fight against the Japanese.

The search for the remains of other Tiger pilots killed during the war continues in China's southwestern mountainous regions.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2004)