Grimma: Emergency crews continued searching Wednesday for a missing crew member, after a helicopter operated by the German Armed Forces crashed into a river during a training flight in the east of the country, killing at least two people.
According to Ghana News Agency, divers scoured the Mulde River in the town of Grimma, near Leipzig, while soldiers combed the riverbanks. Earlier in the day, a German Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter equipped with special sensors flew over the crash site.
The crash occurred on Tuesday afternoon. Two crew members were later found dead. A third remains unaccounted for. The ill-fated helicopter was flying at low altitude when it went down near a bridge over the A14 motorway. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Following the accident, the German Armed Forces declared the area a military security zone, cordoning off a wide perimeter and imposing a no-fly zone. Authorities have not yet released the names or ages of the deceased. However, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who visited Grimma on Tuesday evening, said 'two young lives' had come to an abrupt end while serving their country.
