A helicopter crash on Tuesday claimed the lives of three persons and left three others wounded on Petit Combin mountain in the Swiss Alps, police said.
The Wallis regional police force reported that the B3-type helicopter went down at a landing area during a heliski drop-off.
“Having reached the summit of a mountain culminating at 3,668 metres above sea level, for a reason that the investigation will have to determine, the aircraft slid down the northern slope,” the statement said.
On board were the pilot, a mountain guide, and his four clients. Their identities have not been released.
Seven helicopters were sent to the site as part of the rescue effort.
Two injured people were quickly treated before being airlifted to a hospital in the Wallis cantonal capital Sion. A third person was subsequently also rescued, said the police.
“The three other occupants of the aircraft were unfortunately found lifeless,” the statement said.
On Monday, elsewhere in the southeastern Wallis canton, three people were killed in an avalanche, including a 15-year-old boy from the United States.
