3 killed in Georgia as luxury hotel’s helicopter crashes

Three people died on Thursday when a helicopter owned by one of Georgia's top luxury hotels crashed in a northern mountainous region of the country, emergency services said.

A chopper belonging to the Rooms luxury hotel "crashed in an unpopulated area near the Qulo mountain in the Kazbegi municipality," the spokesman of Georgia's emergency situations department, Rati Mujiri, told agencies.

"All three people onboard have died," he said.

"The helicopter pilot and two staff members of the Adjara Group (which owns Kazbegi Rooms hotel) have been killed in the accident," the company said in a statement.

The Rooms hotel operates Bell 505 Jet Ranger helicopters, according to the hotel's website.

Famed for its spectacular landscapes with snow-capped peaks of the Greater Caucasus mountain range, dramatic rocky gorges, and medieval churches, Kazbegi is a popular tourist destination.