At least 5 Swiss citizens killed when helicopter crashes in eastern France

French authorities say a helicopter that took off from neighboring Switzerland has crashed in the yard of a home in eastern France, killing five people.

The Doubs regional government office says the EC130 helicopter with seven Swiss nationals on board made a distress call after taking off from Lausanne headed for Montbeliard, France, before it went down in the town of Bart.

Two rescue helicopters and emergency squads were at the scene of Thursday's crash.

A government statement said five people died. The other two people aboard were taken to hospitals, one with multiple injuries, the other with grave injuries, it said.

No one on the ground was injured. Authorities didn't immediately provide any information about the cause of the crash.

Those aboard were a pilot and six entrepreneurs en route to a meeting about construction and public works.