EU peacekeeping helicopter crashes in Bosnia with 4 crew members on board

An EU peacekeeping helicopter belonging to the Spanish military crashed Thursday in Bosnia with four crew members on board, officials said.

The helicopter went down around midday north of the town of Travnik, said Lt. Cmdr. Kerry Corkett, a spokesman for the peacekeeping force, which is also known as EUFOR. The status of the crew was not immediately clear.

Spain's Defense Ministry said the helicopter belonged to its military and that it was carrying two Spaniards and two German officers as passengers. The ministry said the helicopter went down near the north-central city of Banja Luka.

The discrepancy in the location of the crash could not immediately be explained.

EUFOR later said the helicopter took off from Sarajevo on a routine flight at 11:30 a.m. (0930 GMT) and then issued a mayday call half an hour later.

"A second helicopter has confirmed smoke, but due to mountainous and heavily forested terrain nothing more could be confirmed," a EUFOR statement said. A rescue mission is under way and "we are not yet in a position to report on possible casualties."

No further details were immediately available.

Spain has 250 soldiers in the peacekeeping force in Bosnia, and Germany has 130.