At least six people have died after a military helicopter went down off the coast of Greece, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has announced.

The rescue mission which began on Wednesday after the crash came to an end on Saturday after the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, gave the order to halt the search and rescue mission as the bodies were nowhere to be found.

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“I join all Canadians in mourning the loss of six Canadian Armed Forces members in the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter accident near Greece’’

“Our thoughts are with all of the families and loved ones of these Canadian heroes, and with the entire Canadian Armed Forces, as they grieve this tragedy.”  NAN quoted the prime minister to have said.

For his part, The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Jonathan Vance, said the search compounded by the inability of the rescuers  to recover all the fallen comrades after going far.

He said the search crew was only able to discover the body of one of the crew members just shortly after the crash.

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He said “The Canadian Armed Forces will be doing everything possible over the next several days to confirm known details with the families.’

”A team of accident investigators from the Royal Canadian Air Force left Canada on Friday to investigate the circumstances of the accident and would begin their work immediately upon arrival.

”The helicopter was participating in exercises along with Turkish and Italian navies off the coast of Greece and was returning to land on the Canadian frigate when contact with the aircraft was lost on Wednesday.

”A few minutes later, Canadian sailors noticed flares in the water and immediately began to search and rescue operations assisted by Turkish and Italian vessels.”

He added that the voice and data flight recorders have been recovered and flown to Canada for analysis.

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