A helicopter crashed into a parking lot in Los Angeles on Tuesday, killing at least three people, according to US officials. A fourth person was taken to hospital, but officials did not immediately provide an assessment of that person’s condition.
The aircraft struck or came down near several parked vehicles at a lot serving a large single-storey building. At least one of those killed was on the ground outside the helicopter, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Captain Branden Silverman told reporters.
Firefighters were still trying to determine how many people had been inside the aircraft. Silverman said the helicopter was “pretty well destroyed” and that crews would need to examine the rubble to establish the number of victims aboard.
More than 50 firefighters responded, according to the fire department. The crash damaged four vehicles and two storage containers, while the fire had been extinguished by Tuesday evening, officials said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash. It occurred near the site of a separate fatal bus accident earlier in the day, but officials had not established whether the incidents were connected.
In the bus accident, two people were killed and six others injured after an SUV crashed into a city bus, officials said. Images described by Euronews showed part of the SUV lodged in the side of an MTA bus as firefighters worked at the scene.