A frantic search has been launched after a helicopter with seven people on board vanished after taking off in northern Italy.
The aircraft is understood to have left Capannori Lucca Tassignano airport in Lucca yesterday morning, and was due to make an hour-long journey to Treviso, but never arrived at its destination.
Volunteers are searching for the missing chopper in what officials describe as vast and largely uninhabited terrain.
Local media reports that the helicopter had been hired by a household chemical manufacturer named Roto Court to transport clients to a new plant.
Giuliano Gelain, a director at the company, told Italian news agency ANSA he was “confident” the chopper had not crashed, as it did not send out an emergency signal.
A search of the region around Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna has resumed this morning after being called off last night.
