EU force helicopter crash kills four in Bosnia

EUFOR confirms Chinook CH-۴۷ helicopter crash in Bosnia, with four Italian nationals confirmed dead.

Four people belonging to the European Union Force in Bosnia (EUFOR) have been killed after an Italian military helicopter conducting a training operation crashed.

EUFOR said a CH-۴۷ Chinook helicopter crashed during “routine training” in the Brcko region on Thursday, about ۱۸۰km (۱۱۰ miles) north of Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo.

A total of ۱۱ people were injured in the crash, EUFOR said, adding that all the injured are receiving treatment and are in stable condition.

The Italian government said in a statement that all those on board the military helicopter were its nationals.

The victims were two soldiers and two Red Cross volunteers, according to the Italian defence ministry.

“At this moment of immense grief, my thoughts go first and foremost to the families of our fallen, to whom I extend my personal condolences and those of the entire defence establishment,” Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said.

Wreckage

Bosnian media outlets published photos of the wreckage showing the helicopter overturned on the ground in a flat field.

A spokesman for Brcko hospital told the AFP news agency that there were ۱۵ people on board at the time of the crash, which initially killed three people.

“Twelve people were transported to our hospital. Unfortunately, a fourth person succumbed to injuries in the hospital,” the spokesman said.

“EUFOR is conducting a full and thorough investigation of the incident and will release more information as it is verified, and when appropriate,” the force said in a statement.

EUFOR, which has between ۱,۰۰۰ and ۱,۵۰۰ personnel, has been deployed in Bosnia since ۲۰۰۴, when it replaced a NATO peacekeeping force that had been in the country since the Bosnian War ended in ۱۹۹۵. The mission oversees the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the three-year war.