All four people aboard crashed emergency care helicopter have died

All four people aboard an emergency care SMURD helicopter that crashed into Siutghiol lake near the Black Sea coast Monday afternoon have died, with Internal Affairs Minister Gabriel Oprea voicing deep regret at their death, the Internal Affairs Ministry said in a release to AGERPRES on Tuesday.

The pilot and co-pilot with the ministry's General Aviation Inspectorate and two medical staff — a doctor and an assistant — working with Constanta county SMURD — the Mobile Emergency Resuscitation and Extrication Service — were killed after the EC (Eurocopter) 135 helicopter they were on crashed into Siutghiol lake.

The ministry announced that the SMURD-operated helicopters of the type of the one involved in the accident have been grounded. A probe into finding the causes of the accident is underway by the Military Prosecutor's Office.

The helicopter was flying back from a medical mission, after having flown a patient to Constanta County Hospital, when the crash occurred, the release stressed.

The EC 135 helicopter was taken over by the General Aviation Inspectorate from Constanta County Council on this Nov. 25 to be used in SMURD-type missions, the ministry said.AGERPRES