Five Killed In French Military Helicopter Crash

Library image courtesy: US Department of Defense.

Two French military training helicopters have crashed after colliding, killing five people on board.

The crash occurred between the small towns of Cabasse and Carces, in the Var region, about 30 miles north of Saint-Tropez.

Roads were cordoned off throughout a broad zone around the crash site, and some three dozen police and military officials were dispatched to the scene.

A gendarme said three people aboard one helicopter were killed and two people on the other.

Officials gave conflicting information about how many people were aboard and whether anyone had survived the crash.

Debris scattered across two large zones, but the area is uninhabited and no-one on the ground was hurt, said the gendarme.

A spokeswoman for the French Army said the helicopters came from its light aviation school, based in nearby Le-Cannet-des-Maures.

The school includes a special joint training programme with German military pilots, and its pilots are sometimes used for firefighting operations in the area.