(Reuters) – Five people were killed on Saturday when two helicopters collided and crashed in a wooded area near Eura Airport in southwestern Finland, police said. Police said the mid-air collision occurred shortly after noon near the town of Kauttua, with the wreckage falling some 700 metres (yards) from the Ohikulkutie road. “Five people have […]
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Five dead in helicopter collision in Finland, police say
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(Reuters) – Five people were killed on Saturday when two helicopters collided and crashed in a wooded area near Eura Airport in southwestern Finland, police said.
Police said the mid-air collision occurred shortly after noon near the town of Kauttua, with the wreckage falling some 700 metres (yards) from the Ohikulkutie road.
“Five people have died in a helicopter accident near Eura Airport on Saturday,” Detective Chief Inspector Johannes Siirilä of the National Bureau of Investigation said.
According to flight plans, there were two people aboard one helicopter and three in the other, police said, adding that both helicopters were registered outside Finland.
One helicopter was registered in Estonia, the other in Austria, according to an Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) report, citing Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. Both belonged to Estonian companies. One was owned by NOBE and the other by Eleon, the report added.
The helicopters were reportedly en route to a hobby aviation event, according to the Pori Aviation Club, Yle News reported.
The National Bureau of Investigation is leading a joint probe with local police, and Finnish and Estonian authorities are cooperating.
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)