BEIRUT — Five bodies were found by first responders Saturday at Mount Cusna in Italy, near the crash site of a helicopter which had gone missing Thursday with two Lebanese citizens aboard, Italian news service ANSA reported.
Here’s what we know:
• There were seven passengers aboard the helicopter. “Five corpses were identified” according to ANSA, without identifying them, a few hours after the crashed aircraft was found in Mount Cusna on Saturday, in a difficult to access forested area between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna.
• The Lebanese state-run National News Agency had indicated that the two Lebanese abroad are Chadi Kreidy and Tarek Tayyah, noting that first responders were facing difficulties accessing the crash site.
• The Italian press noted that a crater and debris matching the disappeared helicopter had been identified at Mount Cusna, which reaches 2,120 meters in altitude, near the Cesare Battisti refuge. The crash site was spotted on the third day of the search by an Italian army helicopter, according to the Corriere di Bologna. Ialian daily La Gazzeta di Modena said that the crash site identification was possible due to the presence of burnt trees, metal debris, and a hiker’s testimony. A short video, sent by one of the Lebanese passengers to his son which shows the flying conditions in the storm and which has not yet been made public also played part in the search.
• Aboard the helicopter was the Italian 33-year-old pilot, the two Lebanese men, and four Turkish citizens, who were on the way to the Lucca-Tassignano Airport, heading to Castelminio di Resana, in the Trevise region, to attend a promotional event hosted by a paper manufacturer, according to local media reports. Seven helicopters belonging to the Italian military, police and medical emergency division have been conducting rescue operations since Thursday night.
Humanitarian convoy reaches Rmeish, Ain Ibl, Dibil despite obstacles
