Wellington: Six tourists and their pilot were killed when their helicopter crashed into a heavily crevassed glacier in New Zealand during bad weather today, police said.
The sightseeing helicopter plunged into the Fox Glacier, a popular tourist site on the West Coast of the south Island, with weather conditions reported to be heavily overcast and raining at the time.
A paramedic and an alpine rescue team who were winched down to the crash site confirmed there were no survivors, a police spokesman said.
Efforts were under way to recover the bodies but police said this could take time because of the atrocious weather.
"I'm not going to risk any more lives, we've lost seven," inspector John Canning told reporters.
The names and nationalities of the pilot and six passengers were not immediately available.
The downed helicopter was reported to belong to Alpine Adventures, a company that advertises itself as an "experienced helicopter flight-seeing company providing visitors with a diverse range of South Island scenic helicopter flights and private charters in some of most spectacular alpine and coastal regions of New Zealand".
Five years ago, nine people including four tourists were killed when a plane carrying a party of skydivers crashed on take off at Fox Glacier airport.
Fox Glacier is 13 kilometres (eight miles) long and is listed as one of the most accessible glaciers in the world, attracting thousands of tourists each year.
The sightseeing helicopter plunged into the Fox Glacier, a popular tourist site on the West Coast of the south Island, with weather conditions reported to be heavily overcast and raining at the time.
A paramedic and an alpine rescue team who were winched down to the crash site confirmed there were no survivors, a police spokesman said.
"I'm not going to risk any more lives, we've lost seven," inspector John Canning told reporters.
Advertisement
The downed helicopter was reported to belong to Alpine Adventures, a company that advertises itself as an "experienced helicopter flight-seeing company providing visitors with a diverse range of South Island scenic helicopter flights and private charters in some of most spectacular alpine and coastal regions of New Zealand".
Advertisement
Fox Glacier is 13 kilometres (eight miles) long and is listed as one of the most accessible glaciers in the world, attracting thousands of tourists each year.
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Helicopter Crashes Into Hotel Roof In Australia, Pilot Killed Russian Mi-28 Military Helicopter Crashes Due To Malfunction, Crew Dead Iran President Raisi To Be Buried In Holy City Of Mashhad Parents Gave Names Of Interns, Doctors To CBI In Kolkata Horror: Sources Who Is Jasveen Sangha, "Ketamine Queen" Charged With Matthew Perry's Death How Extreme Weather Is Leading To Rise In Child Marriages In Pakistan 80 Killed In Paramilitary Attack In Sudan OpenAI Blocks Iranian Group's ChatGPT Accounts For Targeting US Election Blinken Heading To Israel To Press Gaza Truce Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.