U.S. Army helicopter crashes in Florida, 11 feared dead

11 US troops are feared dead after helicopter crash in Florida.

Seven marines and four soldiers were feared dead today after a US Army helicopter crashed during a night training exercise.

Eglin Air Force Base in Florida said the marines are part of a special operations group and the soldiers are from a Louisiana-based National Guard unit.

The Ch-60 helicopter was reported missing at around 8.30pm local time yesterday and search and rescue crews found debris from the crash at around 2am.

Eglin spokesman Andy Bourland said: "At this time all are missing."

Names of those involved were being withheld pending notification of next of kin, he added.

The helicopter went down during a routine training mission on a remote area of beach between Pensacola and Destin.

The beach is owned by the military and is used for test missions. Mr Bourland said the army helicopter took off from a nearby airport in Destin and joined other aircraft in the training exercise.

A second helicopter involved in the night training exercise returned to the base safely, the military said.

Yesterday two helicopters collided in Argentina, killing 10, three of them French sports stars.

The aircraft were being used to transport cast and crew for Dropped, a popular European survival reality show.

Among the dead were French Olympic gold medal swimmer Camille Muffat, Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine and sailor Florence Arthaud.