Three dead after news helicopter crashes near fatal Chatsworth bus collision

Three people were killed and two others were hospitalized after a news helicopter crashed in suburban Los Angeles, city fire officials said.

NBC Los Angeles identified the aircraft as NewsChopper4, which also served Telemundo 52. It had been covering a deadly bus crash in the area on Tuesday.

Station presenters confirmed that both people aboard the helicopter had died, identifying them as Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw, whom they described as valued friends and colleagues.

Officials said the third person killed had been on the ground when the aircraft went down, but did not release their name.

The helicopter crashed shortly before 19:00 local time (01:00 BST) between two commercial buildings in the Chatsworth neighborhood, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson told the BBC.

The resulting fire spread to four vehicles and two storage containers, prompting the deployment of more than 70 firefighters.

During an emotional live broadcast on NBC4, veteran anchor Colleen Williams confirmed that the downed aircraft belonged to the local news station.

“We knew it was a news chopper. We knew we’d lost contact with our people out there, and we’ve just received confirmation,” Williams said.

Earlier, LAFD Captain Branden Silverman told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that one patient appeared to have been outside the helicopter when it crashed.

That person was pronounced dead at the scene, Silverman said.

Several news helicopters were in the area at the time, covering the earlier bus crash.

Two people had been killed and six others injured earlier Tuesday after an SUV collided with a city bus in Chatsworth, CBS reported.

Source link