A French army helicopter crashed into the sea off the Gabon coast while on a bilateral military exercise, and the French Defence Ministry said on Sunday that two soldiers were killed and six were missing. The helicopter, which had a total of 10 soldiers on board, was an AS 532 Cougar. Two soldiers were rescued.
"It was an accident but we're still trying to find out the reasons," said a Defence Ministry spokesman. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked Defence Minister Herve Morin to go to the scene.