AT LEAST FOUR crew members died and one was missing after a firefighting helicopter crashed in the Douro River in northern Portugal on Friday, authorities said.

The pilot survived the accident that prompted the government to decree a day of national mourning for today.

Two bodies were pulled from inside the helicopter which had split in two, commander Rui Silva Lampreia of the National Maritime Authority told Portuguese media.

Two more bodies were located later near the aircraft’s tail, he added, saying the search for the fifth passenger was suspended at nightfall and would resume the following day.

The victims, aged from 29 to 45, are all members of the Emergency Protection and Rescue Unit (UEPS) of the national gendarmerie, the country’s civil protection authority said in a communique.

The civilian pilot, 44, was found alive and slightly injured, gendarmerie spokeswoman Mafalda Almeida told AFP.

The crash happened in the region of Lamego a little after 12:30 pm local time (1130 GMT) while the chopper was returning from fighting a fire near Baiao, just inland from the city of Porto.