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4 Turks, 2 Lebanese Among 7 Dead in Italy Helicopter Crash

Fire brigade perform a search operation for a helicopter that vanished on Thursday with seven people aboard, on the Apennines, Italy, June 10, 2022. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
Fire brigade perform a search operation for a helicopter that vanished on Thursday with seven people aboard, on the Apennines, Italy, June 10, 2022. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
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4 Turks, 2 Lebanese Among 7 Dead in Italy Helicopter Crash

Fire brigade perform a search operation for a helicopter that vanished on Thursday with seven people aboard, on the Apennines, Italy, June 10, 2022. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
Fire brigade perform a search operation for a helicopter that vanished on Thursday with seven people aboard, on the Apennines, Italy, June 10, 2022. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS

Rescuers have found the bodies of seven people, including four Turks and two Lebanese, killed in a helicopter crash in a heavily forested area in Italy, local authorities said on Saturday, two days after the aircraft disappeared from radar screens.

The helicopter had taken off on Thursday from Lucca in Tuscany and was heading towards the northern city of Treviso when it was lost in bad weather over a remote area.

"The rescuers have found dead the seven passengers from the helicopter, four of Turkish and two of Lebanese nationality, who were on a business trip to Italy. As well as the Italian pilot," the prefect's office in the city of Modena said in a statement.

The helicopter was found in a mountainous area on the border between Tuscany and the Emilia Romagna region, the statement said.

Prosecutors have cordoned off the area as part of the investigation into the incident.

"We got the coordinates, we went to the site and found everything burnt. The helicopter is basically inside a valley, near a stream," a rescuer said in a video posted on the Italian Air Force Twitter account.

The Turkish businessmen worked for Eczacibasi Consumer Products, a subsidiary of major Turkish industrial group Eczacibasi. They had been attending a paper technologies fair in Italy, the company said in a statement.

The helicopter was an AW119 Koala manufactured by defense group Leonardo, a person close to the matter told Reuters.

The ANSA news agency reported it was owned by transport and aeronautic maintenance company Avio Helicopters, based in Thiene, in northern Italy.

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Iran Sells Its Oil Stored in China to Finance Operations in the Middle East

Patrol vessel KN. Pulau Marore-322, owned by Indonesia's Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) patrols to inspect the Iranian-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), MT Arman 114, and the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos (Reuters)
Patrol vessel KN. Pulau Marore-322, owned by Indonesia's Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) patrols to inspect the Iranian-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), MT Arman 114, and the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos (Reuters)
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Iran Sells Its Oil Stored in China to Finance Operations in the Middle East

Patrol vessel KN. Pulau Marore-322, owned by Indonesia's Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) patrols to inspect the Iranian-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), MT Arman 114, and the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos (Reuters)
Patrol vessel KN. Pulau Marore-322, owned by Indonesia's Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) patrols to inspect the Iranian-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), MT Arman 114, and the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos (Reuters)

Iran has shipped nearly 3 million barrels of oil from a storage site in China in a bid to raise funds that could be used to shore up Iran’s allied militia groups in the Middle East, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal last week.
The oil was taken from a stockpile of at least 25 million barrels that Iran had sent to China in late 2018.
China approved Iran's oil exports after talks with Iranian officials in late November and December 2024, sources told the newspaper.
The additional oil revenue comes at a crucial time for Iran, as it tries to support its allied militias in the region, such as Hezbollah, which have been battered in conflicts with Israel.
The fall of the Assad regime came as another blow, choking off the land route that Iran used to supply Hezbollah with cash and weapons, WSJ said.
The newspaper warned that the IRGC has taken charge of unloading and claiming this oil. There are concerns that the proceeds from its sale may be transferred to Iran’s regional proxy force, it noted.
US officials specifically raised concerns about the money flowing to the IRGC in its contacts with Beijing, one of the people told the newspaper.
A representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the ministry is not aware of this situation, but Beijing cooperates with all countries, including Iran, within the bounds of international law.
China has opposed the US “abuse of illegal and unreasonable unilateral sanctions” against Iran, the spokesperson said.
China's decision to allow Iran to ship the oil could stoke tensions with Washington, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. In his first term, Trump moved aggressively to curtail Iranian oil sales.
Trump’s transition team has said he would return to his maximum pressure campaign once he takes office on Jan. 20. China, as the largest buyer of Iranian oil, could be critical to that effort.
Trump might have to decide what he wants to give priority to in his relationship with Beijing, given his demands on trade and other issues.
The oil that Iran stored in China in 2018 has been at two ports—in Dalian, east of Beijing, and Zhoushan, south of Shanghai, the people said. Two vessels—the Madestar and CH Billion—recently set sail for Dalian, people told WSJ.
Madestar left the Dalian port in early January loaded with 2 million barrels of oil, and the CH Billion is believed to be still docked there, set to be loaded with 700,000 barrels, they said.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned 35 entities and vessels on Dec. 3 that it said played a role in transporting illicit Iranian petroleum to foreign markets.
Then on December 19, the Treasury imposed additional sanctions on entities and vessels, including a China-based company, to stem the flow of revenue that the Iranian regime uses to support terrorism abroad, as well as to oppress its own people.
In 2024, Iran exported 587 million barrels of oil. China imports accounted for 91% of Iran's total exports, the WSJ said. But much of the funds from those sales have remained abroad because of the impact of US financial sanctions on Tehran.
Even if Iran is ultimately able to sell all the oil now stored in China, it is unclear exactly how much money it would make.
Sanctions and the refusal of some ships to transport the oil will increase the cost of the sale and slow it down.