Four top French athletes and crew from a reality TV show are free to return home after the tragic helicopter crash which killed 10 cast members and colleagues.
Investigating judge Daniel Herrera gave the green light for Olympic champion swimmer Alain Bernard, figure skater Philippe Candeloro, cycling legend Jeannie Longo and snowboarder Anne-Flore Marxer to return after questioning them about Monday's crash in Argentina's remote northwest.
"I spoke to the people I needed to speak and gathered their testimony and I have decided to allow all members of the production and participants to return to their country," Herrera told AFP.
There were no survivors in Monday's deadly collision between two helicopters that were filming the reality series Dropped, in the rugged terrain of La Rioja province.
The crash killed Olympic champion swimmer Camille Muffat, renowned yachtswoman Florence Arthaud and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, as well as five French television crew members and two Argentine pilots.
An agent for one of the sports stars spoken to Thursday said the entire group would take a Friday night flight to France, arriving in Paris Saturday morning - a plan confirmed by a source close to the case.
Argentine forensic experts are waiting for their French counterparts to arrive to begin identifying the victims' remains, a local coroner said.
Investigators will have to rely on dental records or DNA tests to identify the badly burned bodies.
Dropped, featured sports stars who were taken blindfolded into rugged environments and given 72 hours to get to a place where they could charge a mobile phone.
Initial investigations indicate the crash was caused by human error.
Amateur video taken from the ground showed the helicopters flying extremely close, their rotors clipping and both aircraft plummeting.
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