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MARSEILLE, France, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Three people died when a helicopter ferrying their luncheon companions crashed on them in the garden of a French restaurant moments after they had all dined together, French police sources said.

The pilot, the helicopter's owner and two friends aboard the aircraft were unharmed. A woman had her leg severed in the crash and three other fellow diners, including a two-year-old child, were treated in hospital.

The helicopter crashed during takeoff after the group trooped up the garden of the Chez Bob restaurant near the village of Salin-de-Giraud in the southern Camargue region to bid farewell to their departing friends, sources said.

It was not clear what had caused the accident.

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