The bodies of seven soldiers aboard an Israeli transport helicopter that crashed into the side of a mountain in central Romania have been found, Israeli officials said.
Six Israeli soldiers and one Romanian soldier were on board the CH-53 transport helicopter, which was flying at a low altitude in heavy fog for a search, rescue and medical evacuation exercise when it lost radio contact Monday afternoon.
The wreckage, which was found late Monday, is spread out over a large area; the bodies were found Tuesday afternoon. Representatives of the IDF Rabbinate and the Casualty Identification Center were headed to the scene to make the final identifications, according to the military.
Israel released the names of the missing soldiers early Tuesday.
An Israeli military delegation, comprising personnel from the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps, the Israeli Air Force, the Chief Military Rabbinate, Search and Rescue teams, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit and an investigatory team, arrived in Romania Tuesday morning. Members of the rescue team have reached the crash site, according to reports.
Israeli and Romanian troops had been participating in a drill called Blue Sky 2010, an 11-day exercise to train troops to fly at low altitudes for certain missions.
An Israeli transport helicopter reportedly crash landed at the beginning of the exercises last week.
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