Prosecutors in France have
opened a manslaughter investigation after two helicopters crashed in Argentina,
killing eight French nationals.
Three well-known French sports personalities were among those
killed in the collision, which also claimed the lives of the two Argentine
pilots.
French President Francois Hollande said it was "a cause of
immense sadness".
Both helicopters were involved in the filming of TV survival
show Dropped, which airs on French channel TF1.
On the show, celebrities are flown into rough terrain and filmed
while they attempt to find food and shelter.
Yachtswoman Florence Arthaud, Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat and
Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine were the show's celebrities on board at the time
of the crash. They all died.
Other contestants were standing on the ground blindfolded a few
hundred metres away when the accident happened, French media said.
The five other French nationals killed were said to have worked
for Adventure Line Productions (ALP), the company making the programme. They
were named as Laurent Sbasnik, Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodia Guinard, Brice Guilbert
and Edouard Gilles.
The Argentine pilots were named as Juan Carlos Castillo and
Roberto Abate.
Camille Muffat, Alexis Vastine and
Florence Arthaud were confirmed dead by President Hollande's office
Camille Muffat, 25, won three medals, including gold in the 400m freestyle in
the 2012 London Olympics. She retired from competitive swimming in 2014.
Alexis Vastine, 28, won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the
light-welterweight category. He was narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals of
the 2012 Games.
Florence Arthaud, 57, was a hugely accomplished sailor, winning the 1990 Route
du Rhum, the prestigious solo Atlantic race. A serious car accident put her in
a coma when she was 17.
The cause of the
crash is as yet unclear and investigations are under way. The inquiry in France
is standard procedure when its nationals die overseas.
Tributes have
poured in to the dead stars from France and beyond.
"We are
shocked by this sad news," said Thomas Bach, President of the
International Olympic Committee.
"Our thoughts
are with the families and friends of these great athletes who have left
us."
"The world of
sport and the Olympic family have lost three of their key members," he
said, calling them champions and role models.
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