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Five people were killed and another was injured on Saturday when a helicopter they were riding in crashed into an Alaskan glacier, authorities said.
The victims were on a heli-ski trip aboard a contracted helicopter that had left Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, state soldiers said.
The pilot, two lodge guests and two guides were killed, company spokeswoman Mary Ann Pruitt told The Associated Press. A third guest was hospitalized in serious condition.
“This news is devastating for our staff, the community in which we operate and the families of the deceased,” said a statement released by the lodge.
The helicopter crashed into Knik Glacier about 50 miles east of Anchorage at 6:35 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday.
The cause of the wreckage is under investigation.
The lodge where the helicopter occupants resided is about 60 miles northwest of Anchorage.
The two guides who died were identified by authorities on Sunday as Gregory Harms, 52, of Colorado, and Sean McMannany, 38, of Girdwood, Alaska.
The two guests who were killed were Petr Kellner, 56, and Benjamin Larochaix, 50, both from the Czech Republic.
The pilot has been identified as Zachary Russel, 33, from Anchorage, authorities said.
With pole wires
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