Three people were killed and three others injured in a helicopter crash Tuesday on the Petit Combin mountain in the Swiss Alps, police said.
The B3-type helicopter crashed at a landing site during a heliski drop-off, the Wallis regional police force said in a statement.
“Having reached the summit of a mountain culminating at 3,668 metres above sea level, for a reason that the investigation will have to determine, the aircraft slid down the northern slope,” the statement said.
On board were the pilot, a mountain guide and his four clients. Their identities have not been released.
Seven helicopters were sent to the site as part of the rescue effort.
Two injured people were quickly treated before being airlifted to a hospital in the Wallis cantonal capital Sion. A third person was subsequently also rescued, said the police.
“The three other occupants of the aircraft were unfortunately found lifeless,” the statement said.
On Monday, elsewhere in the southeastern Wallis canton, three people were killed in an avalanche, including a 15-year-old boy from the United States.