At 14.00h today, the 24th of August the Guardia Civil issued an official press release to say that one of their helicopters had crashed during the morning.

The accident, which occurred during a mountain-rescue mission near Maraña in Castilla-Leon, cost the lives of three of the 4-man crew.

The helicopter crashed around 09.00h as it was coming in to begin the mountain-rescue operation to pick up a climber who had been competing in the Raid Picos de Europa annual climbing competition.

The helicopter was just getting into position to get the man on board when the chopper suddenly fell out of the sky and burst into flames.

On board were Guardia Civil policemen: Captain Emilio Pérez Peláez, aged 56 and from Zamora and 50-year-old Lieutenant Marco Antonio Benito (pilot and co-pilot), and Guardsman José Martínez Conejo (48), all of whom perished.

The 37-year-old Sergeant in charge of the team survived because he was out of the helicopter at the time with the injured climber.

Updated: Apparently, one of the rotor blades hit the hillside. According to the injured climber, he had one foot inside the helicopter when the sergeant yanked him back out as the blade hit.

(News: Spain)