This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38733593
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 3 | Version 4 |
---|---|
Six killed in Italy as rescue helicopter crashes | Six killed in Italy as rescue helicopter crashes |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Six people have been killed in a rescue helicopter crash in a mountainous area of central Italy, officials say. | Six people have been killed in a rescue helicopter crash in a mountainous area of central Italy, officials say. |
The aircraft came down in thick fog near the Campo Felice ski station after picking up an injured skier. | The aircraft came down in thick fog near the Campo Felice ski station after picking up an injured skier. |
The rescue was not related to last week's avalanche that engulfed a hotel nearby, killing at least 15 people. | |
Rescue teams reached the wreckage "and they found the bodies of the six deceased in the snow", a police spokesman told the AFP news agency. | |
The helicopter was taking the injured skier to hospital in L'Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo province. | |
Some witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion before it crashed. | |
Gianluca Marrocchi, mayor of the nearby town of Lucoli, said he saw the helicopter flying very low. "After that it disappeared in the fog," he told RAI state TV. | |
Campo Felice is a small skiing resort popular with day-trippers from Rome, which is 120km (75 miles) to the west. | Campo Felice is a small skiing resort popular with day-trippers from Rome, which is 120km (75 miles) to the west. |
It is on the other side of Italy's 3,000m Gran Sasso mountain range from the four-star Hotel Rigopiano, which was engulfed by an avalanche on 18 January triggered by a series of earthquakes. Fourteen people remain unaccounted for there. |