Seven dead in horror helicopter crash after aircraft vanishes from radar on mission in Andes Mountains

Seven people have died in a helicopter crash in the Andes Mountains in Argentina.

The helicopter crew was on a training mission which lost contact with air control shortly after taking off in the Ischigualasto Provincial Park, a Unesco World Heritage site in San Juan.

The aircraft, a Bell 412 helicopter, lost contact at 10.26am local time near the border with La Rioja province.

Argentinian authorities searched through the more than 100,000-acre national park and finally found the aircraft at around 1pm.

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On board were members of the province's firefighter and police forces, Marcelo Orrego, the Governor of San Juan said on social media.

The dead officials were named as: Carlos Heredia, director of Civil Protection; General Commissioner Germán Videla, deputy chief of the San Juan Police; General Commissioner Rubén Castro, chief of Firefighters; and Inspector Commissioner Jorge Carbajal, deputy chief of Firefighters.

"We also stand with the families of Matías Valenzuela, the aircraft pilot, and of the AFE firefighters Andrés Bosch and Rodrigo Aimetta," the Governor of San Juan added.

The search operation took place in a nearly-64,000-hectare Argentinian Government-owned uninhabited area.

Argentina's Federal Emergency Agency said the aircraft was on course to assist in fighting forest fires.

The cause of the incident is still being investigated, the agency added.

The Unesco-recognised site was shut down as a result of the horror crash.

Director of the park, Juan Pablo Teja Godoy, told local media it was still unclear what happened.

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"We had scheduled the arrival of this helicopter for this morning," he said.

"Suddenly, we received a call saying that one of the helicopters coming to perform the maneuvers had crashed in the northern part of Ischigualasto Provincial Park."

He added: "We don't know for sure what might have happened. We only received the helicopter distress call, but we haven't had any contact with the crew."

San Juan has now declared three days of mourning in the wake of the tragic wreck.

The incident comes one month after Oliver Tree died in a helicopter collision in neighbouring Brazil.

The pop star was in Rio de Janeiro for a world tour when the aircraft crashed into another chopper, igniting a major fire.

Also killed in the incident were Lucas Vignale, music producer Lucas Brito Chaves, Argentinian YouTuber Gaspar Prim, and pilots Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac.

Tributes flooded in for the popstar, who received a "Celebration of Life" ceremony just three days ago.

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