What has happened?
Two helicopters, each carrying four members of the crew as well as candidates from the reality show Dropped, collided in the region of La Rioja in western Argentina near the Andes.
Both aircraft crashed to the ground killing all on board.
"It is unclear what caused the collision, the weather was good," said a spokesman of the local province of La Rioja, Horacio Alarcon.
Who are the victims?
Florence Arthaud, sailor, 57, was one of the first women to get a place in the world of sailing. In 1990, she broke the world record in the North Atlantic solo crossing earning the nickname "Little Atlantic bride." She won that year's Route du Rhum.
Camille Muffat, swimming champion 25 years, is one of the most successful swimmers in the history of the French swimming. It notably won three medals, including one gold in the 400m freestyle at the London Olympics in 2012. She had just taken his retirement.
Alexis Vastine, amateur boxer, 28, won the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Laurent Sbasnik Lucie Mei-Dalby, Volodya Guinard, Brice Guilbert, Edouard Gilles were part of the crew of the reality TV show, produced by the company that also produces ALP Koh-Lanta ,.
The Argentine pilots were also killed in the accident.
Reactions
Reactions multiply this morning. Here are a few.
Retired football player Sylvain Wiltord, also participated in the show but was in Paris at the time of the accident.
Canoeing champion Tony Estanguet:
The President of the Republic François Hollande:
Prime Minister Manuel Valls:
The Minister of Justice, Christiane Taubira:
The director of TF1 Nonce Paolini, by an official statement expressed the "great sadness" of TF1, "TF1 all teams come together in these terrible times in the grief of families and friends."
ALP production company wrote "all teams ALP collapsed and join in the deep grief of the families and relatives."
Thierry Bawler Secretary of State for Sports:
The concept of transmission
Dropped was in its second week of shooting in Ushuaia, Argentinean Patagonia, just south of the South American continent. The show was to be broadcast next summer on TF1.
Several other athletes were part of the show but were not present in the components: swimmer Alain Bernard, Olympic champion Queen's 100m freestyle in 2008 in Beijing, footballer Sylvain Wiltord 2000 European champion The cyclist Jeannie Longo or the skater Philippe Candeloro.
Two competing teams are brought in helicopters in remote locations and "dropped" ("dropped" in English) on site. The members of each team must then find their way back to civilization, no cards, no food. The concept of the show was first used in Sweden.
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