ARGENTINA-FRENCH OLYMPIC STARS DIE IN HELICOPTER CRASH

USPA NEWS - France was in shock after three of its most popular sports personalities were among 10 people killed in helicopter crash in Argentina during the making of a survival reality show, Dropped.

Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat, Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine and yachtswoman Florence Arthaud were killed along with five other French nationals involved in the production and two Argentine pilots when two helicopters collided in the north-western La Rioja province. Muffat won a swimming gold medal at the London Olympic Games in 2012, Arthaud beat the world record for a solo crossing of North Atlantic and Vastine won a boxing bronze medal at the Olympic Games in China in 2008.

According to productions sources, the anchor of Dropped, Louis Bodin, and three other participants survived the accident while the fate of another two participants, Jeannie Longo and Philippe Candeloro, is still unknown. Authorities from the de La Rioja government confirmed that one of the two helicopters involved in the accident belonged to the local administration while the other was of the ALP production house in charge of the program.
''They were getting ready to film the reality show, and some 80 people, most of them French, have been on location for days'', an official source told La Nacion daily.

French President Francois Hollande expressed ''deep pain''. ''The sudden death of our nationals is a source of deep pain'', said the president in a statement quoted by French media. French Premier Manuel Valls in a Tweet expressed ''immense sorrow'' and ''support for the victims' families'', noting that ''all of France is in mourning''.