Helicopter collision kills Olympics swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine

Three French sports personalities are among 10 people killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina, the French presidential office confirmed.

“The sudden death of our fellow French nationals is a cause of immense sadness,” said a statement from French President Francois Hollande.

Two helicopters  collided in midair  and crashed killing all 10 people on board.  The helicopters  were carrying passengers filming a popular

European reality show crashed Monday in Villa Castelli in La Rioja province, a remote area of northwest Argentina on the edge of the

Andes mountain range that separates Argentina from Chile, killing eight French citizens and two Argentines, La Rioja Secretary of Security

Cesar Angulo said. 

‘An explosion occurred and it’s believed that they collided,’ said Angulo. Photographs showed the burning and smoking wreckage of the helicopters on the ground.

A statement from La Rioja’s government said that among the dead were French sports stars, including Olympic gold medal swimmer Camille Muffat, Olympic boxer

Alexis Vastine and sailor Florence Arthaud.

The French sports figures were part of a team filming the reality show ‘Dropped,’ a survivalist program with several versions across Europe, said the mayor of Villa

Castelli, Andres Navarrete.

Both Argentine pilots, identified as Juan Carlos Castillo and Roberto Abate, were killed in the crash.

‘The causes of the crash are not known,’ Angulo said one of the helicopters belonged to La Rioja province and the other belonged to the neighboring province of

Santiago del Estero.

‘The helicopter from La Rioja was a Eurocopter with a capacity to hold six people. It appears to have brushed against the other helicopter from Santiago del Estero

shortly after takeoff,