Three individuals lost their lives when an Italian military helicopter, part of the European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, crashed on Thursday in the northeastern part of the country. The helicopter, which was carrying 15 people, went down during a routine operation near the town of Brcko, as reported by Federalna public television and EFE.
EUFOR confirmed the incident, stating, “An accident occurred today during a routine operation in the Brcko area, resulting in the crash of one of its aircraft.” The EUFOR command in Sarajevo did not specify any military casualties in its statement, according to AFP.
Authorities stated that no civilians were injured and that the crash did not damage any civilian infrastructure. The accident transpired around 4:00 PM local time (3:00 PM GMT) in the locality of Gorice, close to Brcko. Injured personnel were promptly transported to a hospital, EFE reported.
The damaged aircraft was identified as a Boeing CH-47F Chinook helicopter belonging to the Italian military, with all deceased individuals reported to be of Italian nationality, as indicated by the portal Klix.ba, which published images showing the helicopter completely destroyed.
Moments Before the Crash
Eyewitnesses recounted to the same portal that they observed the helicopter spinning in the air before it went down.
Brcko’s mayor, Sinisa Milic, later confirmed the death toll and injuries to RTRS television in Republika Srpska. Local media reported that several crew members aboard the crashed helicopter either died or sustained injuries; however, this information could not be immediately verified by AFP with the regional police in Brcko, located 180 kilometers north of Sarajevo, or with EUFOR.
EUFOR has stated that it will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and will provide additional information once the facts are established in due course.
The Althea operation, officially known as the European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), is a military mission aimed at overseeing the implementation of the 1995 Dayton Agreement. EUFOR has several hundred troops deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
