Five American soldiers were killed on Thursday in a helicopter crash involving a Blackhawk chopper from the Aviano United States Air Force base in northeastern Italy.
The US army helicopter, with 11 people aboard, was on a training mission which involved embarking and disembarking on the pebbly bank of the River Piave near the village of Santa Lucia di Piave.
According to Italian rescue services, the blades of the helicopter touched the ground during a tight turning manoeuvre, causing the aircraft to crash and burst into flames.
The alarm was raised by motorists who saw the accident from a motorway bridge about 300 metres from the river bank where the helicopter came down.
Four of the people aboard were killed instantly and a fifth died of his wounds in hospital. The other six people on board were all injured, two of them seriously, and are now in local hospitals.
Prosecutors in Treviso cordoned off the crash site, which is at least a kilometre from the nearest houses, and have opened an enquiry to see whether anyone has criminal responsibility for the disaster.
US Air Force experts were also dispatched to the site to study the wreckage.
If it is confirmed that all 11 people aboard the helicopter were American, US authorities could ask Italy to relinquish its jurisdiction in the case.
Italian Defence Minister Arturo Parisi sent condolences to his US counterpart Robert Gates and messages were also sent by local government leaders.
There are reportedly eight Blackhawk helicopters at Aviano, which is one of the biggest American military bases outside the United States.
The twin-turbine helicopters, which can carry up to 18 people, are generally used for training purposes and to support the activity of US troops at the Ederle military base near Vicenza.
Aircraft from Aviano, which has been used by US forces since 1954, have been involved in a few serious accidents over the years.
The worst was in 1998 when a Prowler fighter plane on a training flight severed the cables carrying a cable car up slopes at the Cermis ski resort. Twenty people were killed.
