Seven people were killed Friday when a helicopter and a light tourist aircraft crashed mid-air in the northwestern Italian Alps, mountain rescue officials have said.
Rescue workers recovered two more bodies on Saturday after finding five bodies on Friday.
Alpine rescue corps spokesman Walter Milan said the collision happened happened at an altitude of about 3,000 meters (9,845 feet) over the Rutor glacier in the Aosta Valley, near the French border.
The helicopter had taken off minutes before, unaware that the French four-seater Jodel aircraft was coming in to land, Italian media reported.
A police spokesman told Italy’s RAI radio that the airplane appeared to enter Italian airspace without informing local air traffic control.
The Italian pilot, a German alpine guide and three of the four German heli-skiers aboard the helicopter were among the dead, Italian police said. Two of the three people on airplane, a Belgian and a French national, were also killed.
The two survivors were seriously injured.
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The crash happened above the Rutor glacier near the French border
The Rutor glacier covers nine square kilometers (3.5 square miles) and in winter is popular with “heli-skiers,” who use helicopters to reach off-piste peaks.
amp,nm/msh (AFP, dpa)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/italian-alps-fatalities-in-plane-helicopter-collision-above-glacier/a-47240093