Saudi Prince n Seven Other Killed In Helicopter Crash

Spokeswoman for the Saudi embassy in Washington told NBC News, that the crash occurred near the Yemeni border on Sunday afternoon, a day after the Kingdom’s young crown prince ordered a shocking purge of princes and some of the country’s most influential leaders.

Saudi Prince Mansour bin Muqrin and seven other people were killed in a helicopter crash near the country's border with war-torn Yemen, it was reported.

Chilling footage obtained by Al Arabiya TV shows the passengers boarding the aircraft shortly before it went down and disappeared from radar.

Everyone on board - including senior government officials and a mayor - died in the crash, local media reported.

They were reportedly taking a helicopter tour of development projects near the coast.

The prince was the deputy governor of Saudi Arabia's south-western Asir region, where Sunday's incident occurred, and the son of a former crown prince.

Asir region shares a short border with Yemen.

The cause of the crash has not been revealed.

It occurred a day after 11 princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers were arrested in an anti-corruption purge launched by Saudi Arabia's future king, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal - owner of a firm which invests in companies including Citigroup and Twitter - was among those held.

And the crash also came a day after Saudi Arabia's defence forces shot down a long-range ballistic missile fired towards the capital Riyadh by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The missile was intercepted near King Khaled airport 

A Saudi-led coalition accused the Houthis of a "dangerous escalation" amid the ongoing civil war in Yemen.