A helicopter has crashed between two commercial buildings in Los Angeles.
According to NBC News, at least three people died and one was hospitalized after a fiery helicopter crash in the Chatsworth community of Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 15.
The Los Angeles Fire Department, while confirming deaths, said that the aircraft crashed in a parking lot near the self-storage facility in San Fernando Valley.
As per the statement, three people were pronounced dead at the scene, while another was transported to the hospital with unknown injuries.
LAFD Captain Branden Silverman told CBS, “We do have one confirmed patient that seemed to be outside of the helicopter when it crashed. That person was declared deceased on the scene. At this point, we have not confirmed how many victims, or how many people, were inside the helicopter."
Silverman said that at least one of the deceased appeared to be a pedestrian on the ground when the crash happened.
The fire department also revealed that the crash occurred shortly after two people died and several others were injured in a collision between a Los Angeles Metro bus and a passenger vehicle on Nordhoff Street.
Emergency crews were responding to the nearby bus crash when the helicopter crash happened. When they rushed to the scene, they found aircraft engulfed in flames.
The fire spread to some nearby vehicles and two large cargo containers. A video of the scene showed thick plumes of black smoke.
LAFD later said that 56 firefighters responded to the incident and extinguished the fire that damaged four vehicles and two storage containers.
KCBS reported that the aircraft was a news station helicopter, while as per Federal Aviation Administration records, the aircraft was a single-engine utility, a Eurocopter AS350 B2 built in 2004.
The LAFD said the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will be involved in the investigation into the cause of the crash.
