Four people were killed and 11 injured when a military helicopter belonging to the EUFOR mission crashed in the village of Gorice near Brčko in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among the dead are two members of the Italian armed forces and two female members of the Italian military Red Cross.
According to the latest information from EUFOR, all injured are in stable condition. Nine of the injured were treated in Brčko, while two were transported to a hospital in Tuzla.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto announced the names of the four deceased and stated that he would visit the injured soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina tomorrow. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas also issued statements following the tragedy.
Brčko Mayor Siniša Milić stated that firefighters remained at the crash site all night due to the risk of fire or explosion. He explained that a large quantity of kerosene had spilled in the immediate vicinity of the downed helicopter, necessitating additional caution. The helicopter crashed in an unpopulated area, but not far from the first houses in the settlement of Gorice. Firefighters and civil protection members had earlier participated in extracting the dead and injured.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated that, according to initial reports, a problem may have occurred during a military exercise in Bosnia and Herzegovina while the helicopter was taking off from the ground. He said he did not know exactly what happened, but that the helicopter began to rotate around its axis. He added that the Italian ambassador had immediately gone to the scene of the accident.
Italian radio station RTL 102.5 reported that the CH-47 Chinook military helicopter that crashed near Brčko may have experienced a technical problem during take-off, although this is currently unconfirmed information. The cause of the accident has not yet been officially determined, and EUFOR is conducting an investigation to clarify the circumstances of the crash.
