Three people were killed when a television news helicopter crashed between two buildings in Los Angeles, close to the site of a fatal bus collision.
The helicopter went down shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday in a parking lot between two warehouses near Northoff Street and DeSoto Avenue in Chatsworth. The crash occurred near the location where an SUV had struck a bus earlier that evening.
Two people died in the bus collision, and six others were injured.
The aircraft appeared to land on two shipping containers and several vehicles parked in the lot.
The helicopter crash sparked a large fire, and the Los Angeles Fire Department said the flames endangered four vehicles nearby.
After firefighters brought the blaze under control, crews were seen placing a canopy over at least one body at the scene.
Officials later confirmed that three people had died at the crash site. A fourth person was taken to a nearby hospital, though their condition was not immediately known.
The fire also damaged four vehicles and two storage containers, according to the Fire Department.
Investigators have not yet established what caused the crash. Authorities also have not said who was flying the helicopter or where it had originated.
A longtime NBC 4 Los Angeles anchor confirmed that the aircraft was a television news helicopter, saying, “We are not in contact with our television news helicopter.”
“We have lost contact with our people,” Colleen Williams said tearfully on air.
A helicopter crashed near the site of a deadly Los Angeles bus collision, triggering a major fire that threatened four nearby vehicles
The helicopter came down shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday near Northoff Street and DeSoto Avenue in Chatsworth
The television news helicopter was apparently covering the nearby fatal Metro bus crash
“The helicopter itself, it’s pretty well destroyed, so we are going to have to go through the rubble and see how many victims there were on board as well as identify the helicopter,” LAFD Captain Branden Silverman told reporters. He added that one of the victims had been killed on the ground.
The crash came as local media outlets rushed to get aerial footage of the fatal bus crash, showing people running away from the scene as police cruisers sped toward the fiery explosion.
It appeared the bus was crossing the intersection at around 5pm when the SUV T-boned it, sending both vehicles onto the curb, ABC 7 reports.
Authorities are now looking into the possibility that one of the vehicles ran a red light.
Three people were killed at the scene, while others were rushed to local hospitals. The extent of the victims’ injuries remains unclear.
One of those killed was reportedly ejected from the bus, while the others were said to have been onboard the city bus.
An LA Urban Search and Rescue Team was also seen extricating multiple people from the bus, with at least one person found stuck underneath the vehicle, KTLA reports.
She was eventually freed and quickly loaded into an ambulance in unknown condition with what crews on the scene described as ‘crushing’ injuries.’
Firefighters are pictured responding to the helicopter crash on Tuesday evening
Four vehicles and two storage containers were damaged in the blaze
Soon after the bus crash, images emerged showing the front half of the Ford SUV embedded in the side of the Metro bus.
When the vehicle was then removed, a gaping hole was visible in the bus’s side, according to the Los Angeles Times.
At the height of the response, there were 56 Fire Department personnel on scene, spokesperson Jennifer Middleton told the LA Times.
The intersection where the two fatal crashes occurred will now be closed for ‘quite some time,’ she noted.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the helicopter crash.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
