PARIS, Dec 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Three emergency workers were killed in a
helicopter crash near Marseille while on a rescue mission in flood-hit
southern France, the interior ministry said Monday.
Their EC145 helicopter lost radio and radar contact while on a rescue and
reconnaissance flight in the Var region Sunday night. The three were found
dead at 1:30 am near the town of Rove, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner
and his secretary of state Laurent Nunez said in a statement.
An investigation was under way to determine the circumstances of the
crash.
“While France is preparing today to pay tribute to 13 of its soldiers who
died serving it (in Mali), our country is losing three everyday heroes who
gave their lives to protect the French,” Castaner and Nunez said.
Two people were killed on Sunday by floods in the French Riviera, which
has been hit by fresh torrential rains a week after extreme weather left six
dead.