Prosecutors in France have opened a
manslaughter investigation after two helicopters crashed in Argentina,
killing eight French nationals.
Three well-known French sports
personalities were among those killed in the collision, which also
claimed the lives of the two Argentine pilots.
French President Francois Hollande said it was "a cause of immense sadness".
Both helicopters were involved in the filming of TV survival show Dropped, which airs on French channel TF1.
On the show, celebrities are flown into rough terrain and filmed while they attempt to find food and shelter.
Yachtswoman
Florence Arthaud, Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer
Alexis Vastine were the show's celebrities on board at the time of the
crash. They all died.
Other contestants were standing on the
ground blindfolded a few hundred metres away when the accident happened,
French media said.
The five other French nationals killed were said to have worked for
Adventure Line Productions (ALP), the company making the programme. They
were named as Laurent Sbasnik, Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodia Guinard, Brice
Guilbert and Edouard Gilles.
The Argentine pilots were named as Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate.
Emergency workers began removing bodies from the wreckage and identifying remains on Tuesday morning.
Local
authorities said the bodies of five victims had been removed and taken
to a morgue in the capital of Rioja province, about 300km (200 miles)
from the crash site.
The three sports stars killed
Camille Muffat, 25, won three medals, including gold
in the 400m freestyle in the 2012 London Olympics. She retired from
competitive swimming in 2014. Alexis Vastine, 28,
won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the light-welterweight
category. He was narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals of the 2012
Games. Florence Arthaud, 57, was a hugely
accomplished sailor, winning the 1990 Route du Rhum, the prestigious
solo Atlantic race. A serious car accident put her in a coma when she
was 17. Profiles of Muffat, Vastine and Arthaud The
cause of the crash is as yet unclear and investigations are under way.
The inquiry in France is standard procedure when its nationals die
overseas.
President Hollande is sending two investigators and two
aeronautical advisors to Argentina to assist in finding out what went
wrong.
'Great athletes'
Tributes have poured in to the dead stars from France and beyond.
"We are shocked by this sad news," said Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee.
"The
world of sport and the Olympic family have lost three of their key
members," he said, calling them champions and role models.
British round-the-world yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur told the
BBC: "Florence's view was that the sea is out there and it's there for
the taking.
"You know, I'm sure she's inspired many, many people," she added.
'Miss 100%'
British
swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who took bronze when Muffat won gold in the
400m freestyle at the London 2012 Olympics, said she was "terribly
saddened".
"She was very inspiring, a tough competitor, extremely talented and [a] friendly person." Adlington wrote on her blog. "She was always so genuine and gracious."
Muffat's boyfriend, William Forgues, said she was often called "Miss 100%" because "she won everything".
"She went on this trip so happy. It was her choice to be there," he told reporters.
Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, Muffat's hometown, spoke of his sadness: "I'm distraught. Immense grief," he said.
"I saw her grow up a little as if she were my daughter. I'm thinking of her parents. Camille, we miss you."
Filming for the TV programme began late last month at Ushuaia in the
deep south of Argentina and had since moved to the mountainous western
province of Rioja.
One cast member, figure skater Philippe Candeloro, was said to be "extremely shocked but unharmed".
Reaction: Lucy Williamson, BBC News, Paris
France is waking up to the shock of its loss, with the death of the
three sports stars and five other French nationals splashed across every
paper, every news bulletin.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls tweeted his "immense sadness" saying "all France is grieving this morning".
Meanwhile
Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin told the BFM-TV news channel that the
three athletes were "among the most outstanding ambassadors for our
country".
Former Arsenal and France striker Sylvain Wiltord, who was taking part in the current series, said via social media: "I'm trembling, I can't talk. I'm horrified." And a former team-mate of Camille Muffat, Yannick Agnel, said simply: "Not her… Let us be strong."
But
amid the horror there are also the first signs of anger. Well-known
musician Benjamin Bioley has criticised what he called a "horrible TV
reality show that serves up cardboard stars and then steals three
wonderful athletes".
As the country begins to absorb the news, the questions over this incident and the circumstances that led to it will only grow. Officials have said the weather conditions in the mountainous area where the helicopters went down were good.
"An
explosion occurred and it's believed that they must have collided,''
said La Rioja Secretary of Security Cesar Angulo. "Aeronautical experts
will have to determine that," he added.
"We learn with great sadness about the accident during the filming of the Dropped show," said a statement issued by TF1.
"All TF1 teams come together in this terrible time with the pain of the families and relatives of the victims."
TF1 says the show will be postponed and the rest of the crew is returning home.
Helicopter crashes on location
2006:
Cameraman Roland Schlotzhauer dies when the helicopter he is in hits
power lines and crashes in a field in Iowa during filming of baseball
movie The Final Season
2011:
A helicopter filming for digital television G4's Campus PD reality
series crashes into student housing at Indiana University of
Pennsylvania, killing cameraman Greg Jacobsen
2012:
American cinematographer Mike deGruy and Australian TV writer-producer
Andrew Wight are killed when their helicopter crashes on takeoff in
eastern Australia
2013:
Three people are killed - pilot David Gibbs, cameraman Darren Rydstrom
and cast member Michael Donatelli - when their helicopter crashes in Los
Angeles County during the filming of a new reality TV show for the
Discovery Channel
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