Italy locates crash site of helicopter carrying 7 people

ROME (AP) — Italian rescuers on Saturday located the scorched crash site of a helicopter carrying seven people that went down in a forested, mountainous area in north-central Italy during a storm. News reports said five bodies had been located.

Italy’s Alpine rescue service said ground crews were already on the scene on Mt. Cusna, after a hiker reportedly came across remnants of the chopper. The Italian air force, which was taking part in the search, said the location was in a hard-to-reach valley and that the surrounding bush and trees had been burned.

The ANSA news agency, citing unidentified rescuers, said five bodies had been located.

The helicopter disappeared from radar screens Thursday morning as it flew over the province of Modena in the Tuscan–Emilian Apennines. It was carrying seven people, including four Turkish citizens, from Lucca to Treviso to visit a tissue paper production facility.

The Turks on board worked for Turkish industrial group Eczacibasi, which said they were taking part in a trade fair.

Eczacibasi said late Friday its board chairman, Bulent Eczacibasi, and senior executives had arrived in the area, along with Turkey’s ambassador to Italy.