Reality TV deaths

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMarch 19, 2015

The deaths of 10 people in a collision of two helicopters (as they were reportedly en route to film a French reality TV show called "Dropped") is the latest in a long list of fatalities involving reality TV shows around the world. Here is a list of some of most infamous incidents over the past few years.

BUCKWILD

Credit: AP

In April 2013, a star of MTV's "BUCKWILD" reality TV show and two others were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in an SUV stuck in a mud pit in Sissonville, West Virginia.

Shain Gandee, 21, nicknamed "Gandee Candy" by fans, was a breakout star of the show that followed the antics of young friends enjoying their wild country lifestyle.

Credit: AP/ Amy Sussman

Shooting was underway on season two at the time of Gandee's death. MTV canceled the show.

THE CROCODILE HUNTER

Credit: Getty Images/ Bradley Kanaris

In September 2006, 44-year-old Steve Irwin was killed by the poisonous spine of a stringray as he swam with the creature while shooting a TV show on the Great Barrier Reef.

Credit: Getty Images/ Bradley Kanaris

Marine experts called the death a freak accident.

Credit: AP/ Myung Jung Kim

They said rays reflexively deploy a sharp spine in their tails when frightened, but the venom coating the barb usually causes a very painful, but survivable, sting for humans.

KOH LANTA

Credit: Getty Images/ Jean-Christophe Verhaegen

In March 2013, 25-year-old participant Gerard Babin died of a heart attack on the first day of filming the castaway island reality show "Koh Lanta" in Cambodia. The ALP-produced show, the French version of "Survivor," was canceled, and the program's on-site doctor committed suicide. The doctor, Thierry Costa, blamed the press for damaging his professional reputation following Babin's death. In his suicide note, Costa's last wish was to be cremated in Cambodia so that his body would not return to France.