Eight members of an international peacekeeping force have been killed after their helicopter crashed in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, officials say.

The dead were six US citizens, one French and one Czech, the troops officially known as the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) added in a statement.

One US MFO member survived the crash and was being treated, it said.

The crash took place during a “routine mission” in the vicinity of Sharm el-Sheikh in the southern part of the largely desert peninsula.

The MFO said it would conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

“At this point, there is no information to indicate the crash was anything except an accident,” it said.

Initially, local witnesses said seven had been killed in the crash.

Th MFO force is tasked with monitoring the Egyptian-Israeli border under a peace treaty between the two countries.

The MFO has drawn troops from the United States, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Fiji, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Britain and Uruguay.