Romanian army chopper crashes; seven soldiers die 

Bucharest: Seven Romanian soldiers have been killed during a search-and-rescue mission, after the helicopter they were travelling on crashed in poor weather conditions.  

As per details, the Romanian helicopter was sent on a search-and-rescue mission late on Wednesday after a Romanian military MiG 21 LanceR dropped off the radar, the defence ministry said.

The crash killed all seven soldiers on board.  

The ministry stated that the pilot of the IAR 330-Puma helicopter had reported unfavourable weather conditions and had been called back to base before the crash,

The helicopter fell near the village of Gura Dobrogei in eastern Romania.

The ministry initially said the crash had killed five soldiers, but later updated the death toll.

Stressing over the incident, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said, "I give my profound regret and full compassion for the loss of seven soldiers from the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base".

The fate and location of the MiG plane and its pilot were still unknown.

Romania—a European Union and NATO member, plans to phase out its MiG planes and is flying F-16s.

Earlier in 2018, a Romanian Air Force pilot died after his MiG21 Lancer fighter jet crashed during an airshow.