Helicopter crash kills seven in the mountains of northern Italy

The toll of the crash is terrible. Seven bodies were found on Saturday in the wreckage of a helicopter that disappeared Thursday in the mountains of northern Italy, the emergency services said, which reported no survivors.

Four Turkish citizens and two Lebanese were on board the helicopter, on a business trip. The pilot was Italian, originating from Venice. The helicopter, an AgustaWestland A119 Koala registered I-ELOP owned and operated by Avio srl, disappeared after leaving the airport of Lucca (LCV/LIQL) towards a paper company in Castelminio di Resana near Treviso airport (TSF/LIPH).

“After the remains of the missing aircraft were found on Mount Cusna on June 9, the unfortunately lifeless bodies of the seven people on board were found in the wreckage,” Italian firefighters announced on Twitter. “No survivors have been found,” added the Alpine Rescue Service.

The Italian Air Force, firefighters and police services participated in the search. Bad weather hampered the first attempts to find the helicopter, which disappeared in a sparsely populated mountainous area. In a video posted on Twitter, an Italian Air Force spokesman said on Saturday that rescue teams discovered “everything burned” on the scene.