In brief

• An Italian Army CH-47 Chinook from the EU's Eufor Althea mission crashed near Gorica in Bosnia's Brčko area, close to the Serbian border.
• Italy's Defence Ministry said four mission members died and 11 were injured, all of them Italians.
• The cause of the crash is unknown; the EU mission said the helicopter was on a routine operation and no civilians were affected.
• Italian President Sergio Mattarella offered condolences to the victims' families.

Crash near the Serbian border

The helicopter went down near Gorica, in the Brčko area on the border with Serbia, about 180 kilometres northeast of Sarajevo (Bosnien: Mehrere Tote bei Absturz von italienischem Armeehubschrauber – DER SPIEGEL) (Bosnien-Herzegowina - EU-Hubschrauber abgestürzt - Tote befürchtet – Deutschlandfunk). Photos from the scene show the wreck of the twin-rotor transport helicopter lit by floodlights, with fire engines in the background (Bosnien-Herzegowina - EU-Hubschrauber abgestürzt - vier Tote und elf Verletzte – Deutschlandfunk).

The EU mission said the aircraft was on a routine operation. It also reported that the crash caused no injuries among local residents and no damage to civilian property or facilities.

Casualties

Four members of the mission were killed and eleven others injured, Italy's Defence Ministry reported (Bosnien-Herzegowina: Vier Tote bei Absturz von Helikopter der EU-Friedenstruppe in Bosnien – ZEIT ONLINE) (Al menos cuatro muertos al estrellarse un helicóptero militar italiano en Bosnia – EL PAÍS). The ministry said all of the injured are Italians and most are soldiers.

Cause and reaction

The cause is unknown. The Italian ministry did not give a probable reason in its first statement and said only that rescuers arrived at the scene immediately. The exact sequence of events remains unclear.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella expressed condolences to the victims' families.

The mission

Eufor Althea's main task is to support implementation of the 1995 Dayton peace agreement, which ended the war in Bosnia. It is the EU-led successor to an earlier NATO mission.