Two helicopters carrying Estonian entrepreneurs collide and crash in Finland

Two civilian helicopters collided and crashed in Finland, public broadcaster Yle reports. Later it became known that there were Estonian businessmen on board.

The incident occurred near the Eura community airfield in the southwest of the country.

Rescuers were notified of the accident after noon on May 17.

Both aircraft have been found: they are civilian helicopters, firefighting and rescue operations are underway, emergency services report.

At the same time, they refrained from commenting on possible victims.

A Yle journalist nearby said police were preventing media from reaching the scene of the accident. Several ambulances and other emergency services had arrived, and a helicopter was circling the scene.

UPDATED. The Estonian newspaper Postimees reports that the helicopters were carrying major businessmen from Estonia. The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that no one survived the crash.

A close friend of the people who were in the helicopters told the media that there were three people in each vessel: on one board were members of the board of the construction company Mapri Ehitus, Preet Jaagant and his wife, and on the other was entrepreneur Oleg Sinajalg, who works in the energy sector.

According to the source, both helicopters were flying to a meeting of aviation enthusiasts. The event was canceled after the crash.

The helicopters took off from Tallinn at the same time and flew together most of the way to Eura, Yle reported.

• On May 7, an F/A-18 Hornet fighter crashed in Finland, the pilot managed to eject.

• The pilot survived, and his landing site was found. The fighter itself fell into a military zone.