Six die as helicopter crashes on icy Italian slopes
The wreckage of the helicopter lies in snow in the Campo Felice ski area in central Italy. Photo: AP/Gregorio Borgia
A medical emergency helicopter carrying six people crashed in a mountainous area of central Italy and reports say all those aboard were killed.
Video from the scene showed the front half of the helicopter completely destroyed on a snowy, fog-shrouded slope.
Rescuers working to evacuate the bodies of the dead. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty
The accident happened on the other side of Italy’s Gran Sasso mountain range about 100 km from the site of last week’s avalanche that buried a hotel and killed at least 15 people.
The helicopter involved in Tuesday’s accident was not part of ongoing rescue operations at the hotel.
Instead, it was on its way to a hospital in the provincial capital of L’Aquila after picking up an injured skier.