France Mourns Athletes Killed in Helicopter Crash in Argentina - New York Times

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People gathered near the site of a helicopter crash that left 10 dead in the Argentine province of La Rioja on Monday. Credit Gabriel Gonzalez/Associated Press

PARIS — Political leaders and the French sports world reacted with shock and grief on Tuesday to the deaths of three prominent athletes in a helicopter crash in Argentina, including the gold-medalist swimmer Camille Muffat and the transoceanic sailor Florence Arthaud.

The athletes were among 10 people killed Monday night when two helicopters collided during the filming of a reality television show, “Dropped,” in which contestants are taken to remote areas and try to find their way back to civilization.

The office of the French president, François Hollande, confirmed the deaths of Ms. Muffat, Ms. Arthaud and the Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine in a statement overnight, adding, “The sudden death of our compatriots is an immense sadness.”

Prime Minister Manuel Valls wrote on Twitter that “all of France is grieving this morning.” Thierry Braillard, junior minister for sports, told BFM TV that French athletics had lost “three stars.”

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The five other French victims were staff members at Adventure Line Productions, which was producing the program for the channel TF1, according to the statement from Mr. Hollande’s office. The other two victims were the Argentine pilots of the helicopters, identified as Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate, The Associated Press reported.

The two helicopters were heading toward a remote gorge in the northwestern province of La Rioja when they touched in the air and exploded, witnesses told a radio station. Argentina’s state news agency reported that the flying conditions had been ideal.

The mayor of the closest town to the crash site, Villa Castelli, said the helicopters were “totally burned.” About 80 people were in La Rioja, near the Chilean border, working on the program, provincial officials said.

Investigators were at the crash scene late on Monday. Agence France-Presse reported on Tuesday that the judicial authorities in Paris had opened an investigation for involuntary manslaughter, as is usual for fatal incidents involving French citizens abroad.

Ms. Muffat, 25, had won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2012 London Olympic games; Mr. Vastine, 28, had won a bronze medal at the 2008 games in Beijing. Ms. Arthaud, 57, was a renowned sailor who won the Route du Rhum trans-Atlantic yacht race in 1990 and who was nicknamed the fiancée of the Atlantic for her feats of navigation.

The reality show was in its first season and had recently begun filming. Adventure Line Productions had already made headlines in 2013 when a contestant died of a heart attack during the filming of “Koh-Lanta,” a French adaptation of “Survivor,” which the company also produced for TF1, leading the show’s doctor to commit suicide.

Aurelien Breeden reported from Paris, and Jonathan Gilbert from Buenos Aires.

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