Three people were killed when an NBC news helicopter crashed between two buildings near the site of a fatal bus collision in Los Angeles.
The aircraft went down shortly before 7pm Tuesday in a parking lot between two warehouses near the intersection of Northoff Street and DeSoto Avenue in Chatsworth. The crash occurred close to where an SUV had struck a bus earlier that evening.
The earlier bus crash left two people dead and six others injured.
The helicopter appeared to have come to rest atop two shipping containers and several vehicles parked in the area.
The crash sparked a large fire that threatened four nearby vehicles, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
After crews extinguished the flames, firefighters were seen putting up a canopy over at least one body.
Authorities said the three victims included the helicopter’s two occupants and a pedestrian on the ground. Another person was taken to a local hospital in an unknown condition.
The Fire Department said four vehicles and two storage containers were damaged by the blaze.
A helicopter crashed near the scene of a bus collision in Los Angeles, triggering a major fire that threatened four nearby vehicles.
The helicopter came down near the intersection of Northoff Street and DeSoto Avenue in Chatsworth shortly before 7pm on Tuesday.
Following the crash, a longtime NBC 4 Los Angeles anchor confirmed that the chopper was a ‘television news helicopter,’ noting: ‘We are not in contact with our television news helicopter.’
‘We have lost contact with our people,’ Colleen Williams said through tears.
She later confirmed that the news helicopter was from NBC Los Angeles, before the news station took a break to process the information.
LA Fire Department Captain Branden Silverman had earlier told reporters on the scene that the helicopter is ‘pretty well destroyed.’
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.
The news helicopter was apparently reporting on a fatal Metro bus crash nearby
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.
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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.
In a brief statement, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she is ‘absolutely devastated by the loss of life in Chatsworth tonight.
‘My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash,’ she posted on social media. ‘My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash.
‘I’m grateful to the city teams who responded so quickly,’ she added, as she urged the public to ‘please stay clear of the are as public safety officials remain on scene.’
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.