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2 French troops killed in Gabon helicopter crash

Other News Materials 18 January 2009 21:40 (UTC +04:00)

Rescuers searched on Sunday for six French soldiers missing after a helicopter crashed into Atlantic waters during a training exercise off Gabon's coast. Two soldiers were confirmed dead, reports AP .

Three soldiers were found alive, but one of them later succumbed to injuries suffered in the crash that happened late Saturday, military spokesman Lt. Col. Pascal Carpentier said. Another soldier's body was pulled from the water overnight.

The helicopter went down shortly after taking off from a French naval vessel participating in the joint exercise with Gabon forces. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Two rescue helicopters were searching the zone where the aircraft went down off Nyogne, a village between the west African country's capital, Libreville, and the oil port of Port Gentil.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged that all available means would be deployed in the search.

France's defense minister, Herve Morin, arrived in Gabon on Sunday afternoon, said Col. Philippe Tanguy, Defense Ministry spokesman in Paris. Morin is expected to visit the victim's families and meet with Gabon President Omar Bongo.

Another military spokesman, Capt. Christophe Prazuck, said in Paris that divers from the French military and from a private company in Gabon were expected to help in the search starting Sunday afternoon. He said French military ships as well as ships belonging to French oil giant Total have been plying the waters near the crash site for some 20 hours.

No more details were immediately available and there was no information about the condition of the two surviving soldiers.

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