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Seven crew members were killed after a helicopter crashed during a training exercise for wildfire response operations in Argentina’s San Juan province, authorities said.
The accident occurred on Thursday morning when a Bell 412 utility helicopter lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after takeoff while flying at an altitude of around 4,000 feet above sea level. The helicopter later crashed, and an investigation has been launched to determine the cause.
Authorities said weather conditions were favourable at the time of the training. The helicopter was carrying senior officials from the police and fire services who were participating in a wildfire management exercise organised by the National Fire Management Service.
The training programme was arranged for around 50 members of local emergency response teams. Among those confirmed dead were San Juan police deputy chief Marcelo Videla, fire service chief Ruben Castro, Civil Protection director Carlos Heredia, and deputy fire chief Jorge Carabajal. Three other crew members also died in the crash.
The wreckage was located by a helicopter belonging to a local mining company, and rescue operations were launched. However, the remote mountainous location has made the recovery effort difficult, with rescuers having to walk nearly seven miles through rugged terrain to reach the crash site.
Police have begun investigating the cause of the crash.
The accident comes as the La Rioja region, a semi-arid area roughly the size of Austria, continues to battle severe wildfires. Local firefighters said hundreds of hectares of forest have been destroyed by flames over the past three days.