Two helicopters carrying passengers filming a popular European reality show crashed Monday in a remote area of northwest Argentina, killing eight French citizens and two Argentines, authorities said.
A man stands near the smoking remains of a helicopter that crashed with another near Villa Castelli in the La Rioja province of Argentina, Monday, March 9, 2015.
The helicopters crashed while flying near Villa Castelli in La Rioja province, about 730 miles (1,170 kilometers) northwest of Buenos Aires, La Rioja Secretary of Security Cesar Angulo told television station TN. All 10 people on board both aircraft were killed.
“An explosion occurred and it’s believed that they must have collided,” said Angulo. “Aeronautical experts will have to determine that.”
La Rioja police commissary Fabian Gordillo told state news agency Telam that the dead included two Argentine pilots and eight French citizens. The pilots were identified as Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate. The identities of the French citizens were not released.
The mayor of Villa Castelli, Andres Navarrete, said the French nationals were part of a team filming the reality show “Dropped,” a survivalist program with several versions across Europe.
The crew had arrived on Sunday in Villa Castelli, where it had previously filmed a version of the show for Switzerland and Denmark, said Navarrette.
“The causes of the crash are not known,” Navarrete told radio station Cadena 3.
Angulo said one of the helicopters belonged to La Rioja province and the other belonged to the neighboring province of Santiago del Estero.
The rugged, sparsely populated area is on the edge of the Andes mountain range that separates Argentina and Chile.
Several after-hours calls to various departments within the municipality of Villi Castelli were not answered.
Đăng ký: VietNam News