PARIS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A French gendarme was killed and two others were critically injured when a National Gendarmerie helicopter crashed on Sunday afternoon in the north-central French department of Loiret, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
The "tragic accident" occurred during a search-and-rescue mission for a missing person when the helicopter crashed in the forest of Bray-Saint-Aignan, Nunez said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday evening.
The two injured gendarmes remain in critical condition, according to local authorities.
The circumstances surrounding the crash will be determined through a judicial investigation, the Loiret prefecture said, as cited by France Info. ■
