French Sports Personalities Among Victims

Investigations have been launched after a helicopter crash in the La Rioja province of Argentina led to the deaths of ten people, including three well-known French sports personalities.

Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat, boxer Alexis Vastine and renowned sailor Florence Arthaud were fatally injured in the incident near Villa Castelli in which two Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureil helicopters are believed to have collided.

The local government-operated aircraft were involved in the filming of the French TV survival show Dropped, with five of those killed being production crew from the programme. The Argentinian pilots of the helicopters were also killed.

Prosecutors in France have followed procedure in such circumstances and opened an inquiry into the deaths, with the country’s president Francois Hollande also issuing a statement outlining how the deaths were “cause of immense sadness”.