**Three New Zealand air force staff have died after a military helicopter heading to an Anzac Day memorial service crashed near Wellington.**It came down in a rugged area north of the city before dawn, reports say.
A fourth member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force was seriously injured in the accident.
Thousands of people mark the anniversary of the World War I Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) landing at Gallipoli.
“I have received news that three members of the have lost their lives in a helicopter crash and that a fourth is seriously injured,” New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said at a memorial service in Gallipoli.
“This tragedy is a stark reminder that our personnel still face great risks today as they serve their country.”
Anzac Day commemmorates the bloody fight for the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, which began on 25 April 1915.
More than 10,000 New Zealand and Australian servicemen were among some 100,000 soldiers who died in the failed eight-month campaign.
Australian services were also interrupted by an accident, when a World War II-era military lorry reportedly crashed into marchers at a Melbourne parade, injuring two elderly Veterans.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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