Ten people were killed when two helicopters collided in the western Argentine province of La Rioja, a local official said on Monday, as speculation grew that participants in French reality show "Dropped" were among the dead.

"I am sad for my friends, I'm shaking, I'm horrified, I can't find the words," Tweeted Sylvain Wiltord, the former French footballer and cast member of Dropped.

Among the dead were the helicopters' two pilots, Cesar Angulo, La Rioja's security chief, told reporters. The province is in a rugged area near the Andes mountains.

"Apparently there was a crash in which 10 people died. There were no survivors, according to the information we have," Angulo said.

The pilots were Argentine and the passengers foreigners, provincial media reported.

"One of the helicopters belonged to the provincial government and the other to the organizers of an international survival competition that had been held for three years near the village of Villa Castelli. Sources said the passengers were French citizens," Argentina's official news agency Telam said.