Logo

AP; CNN; Deadline

Tragedy: Ten People, Including a French Olympian Gold Medalist in Swimming, Are Killed In a Collision Between Two Helicopters While Filming a Popular European Reality Show

Mar 9, 2015  •  Post A Comment

“Two helicopters carrying passengers filming a popular European reality show crashed Monday in a remote area of northwest Argentina, killing eight French citizens and two Argentines, authorities said,” reports the Associated Press.

According to CNN, “Two French Olympic medalists were among [the] 10 people killed….The helicopters were heading to the town of Villa Castelli in a mountainous area of northwestern Argentina as part of the filming of the reality TV show “Dropped” for the French broadcaster TF1.

Among those who were killed, said CNN, were Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer “Camille Muffatt, 2, who won three medals at the 2012 Olympics in London; the boxer Alexis Vastine, 28, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing; and the sailor Florence Arthaud, 57.”

Five other French nationals who were part of the crew of “Dropped” were also killed, as were the the two helicopter pilots, who were from Argentina, the reports noted..

According to the AP, of the three athletes killed, “Some had finished their careers and one was dreaming of gold in Rio,” French Secretary of State for Sport Thierry Braillard said on BFM TV channel. “I’m profoundly saddened. French sport has lost three stars this morning.”

The AP story added, that the sailor, Arthaud, “was a pioneer in sailing. In 1990, she won the famed Route du Rhum race — a trans-Atlantic single-handed yacht race between Brittany and the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe — on her boat Pierre 1er.”

According to Deadline, “The ‘Dropped’ [reality show] format features athletic celebrities divided into two teams who are blindfolded and dropped into some of the most remote locations on earth. With no food, no map, and no help, they must make their way through unforgiving landscapes to find civilization and a helicopter to take them to the next location.

One Comment

  1. Sounds like the French version of the TNT series “72 Hours”…

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)