BUCHAREST, Romania — Authorities say five people have died, including three German citizens, after a helicopter crashed into a lake in northwest Romania shortly after takeoff.
Ovidiu Petru Oltean, the mayor of the town of Taureni where the crash occurred, said the helicopter crashed Monday minutes after takeoff into a two-meter (6.6 feet) deep lake.
He said three unidentified German businessmen, Romanian businessman Sorin Terbea, and the pilot died in the crash. They had been visiting a wood manufacturing plant in the area.
Cristian Boeriu of the emergency services division said that four bodies had been retrieved from the lake and one was trapped in the helicopter. A woman identified as Terbea's assistant survived the crash is being treated in a hospital.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.
