Four French police have been killed in a helicopter crash in the Pyrenees mountain range along the border with Spain.
The accident happened at an altitude of between 2,000 and 3,000 metres near the Vignemale, the highest peak on the French side of the mountains, authorities said.
The dead, who were all in their 40s, included the pilot, co-pilot and two mountain rescue specialists involved in a training exercise, local authorities said.
Eric Serfass, the prosecutor from the nearby town of Tarbes who announced an investigation into the crash, said although weather at the time of the crash on Friday had been good, flying at such altitudes was "extremely difficult".
The last fatal police helicopter crash in France occurred in 1997, also in the Pyrenees. Two people were killed.
In 2009 a helicopter carrying a pregnant woman in Corsica crashed shortly after she gave birth mid-air, killing the mother, her newborn baby, the doctor and two crew.
from the guardian
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