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6 dead after helicopter crashes near site of Italian avalanche

Click to play video: '6 dead after helicopter crashes near site of Italian avalanche'
6 dead after helicopter crashes near site of Italian avalanche
WATCH: Italian rescue crews braved freezing temperatures on a mountainside in central Italy Tuesday to retrieve the bodies of the victims who died in the helicopter crash – Jan 24, 2017

A medical emergency helicopter carrying six people crashed in a mountainous area of central Italy on Tuesday and local television reported that all those aboard were killed.

Video from the scene showed the front half of the helicopter completely destroyed on a snowy, fog-shrouded slope.

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READ MORE: Italy avalanche death toll rises to 14

The accident happened on the other side of Italy‘s Gran Sasso mountain range about 100 km from the site of a massive rescue operation following last week’s avalanche that buried a hotel in the same region of Italy.

The helicopter involved in Tuesday’s accident was not part of ongoing rescue operations at the hotel. Instead, it was on its way to a hospital in the provincial capital of L’Aquila after picking up an injured skier.

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(Reporting By Philip Pullella; editing by Crispian Balmer)

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