Reality TV tragedy victims identified
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Forensic experts have identified the bodies of the 10 victims killed when two helicopters filming a French reality show collided in Argentina, including three of France’s top sports stars.
“The bodies of the eight French nationals and two Argentine pilots have been identified,” the Argentine judge leading the investigation, Daniel Herrera, said Monday.
The helicopters were filming an episode of Dropped, a reality show in which sports stars were taken blindfolded into inhospitable environments, when they collided in mid-air in a mountainous region of northwest Argentina.
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The accident killed Olympic champion swimmer Camille Muffat, renowned yachtswoman Florence Arthaud and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, as well as five French television crew members and two Argentine pilots.
It took French and Argentine forensic experts a week to identify the bodies, which were badly burned in the crash.
Herrera said they had relied on dental and medical records and X-rays.
“The bodies are still at the morgue (in the city of La Rioja). I will sign the authorisation for them to be taken to Buenos Aires,” he said.
The production company behind the series, which was to air on French network TF1 in July, immediately cancelled shooting after the crash.
The remaining cast and crew arrived back in France on Saturday.