At least three dead in LA news helicopter crash near fatal bus accident
Firefighters are scouring the rubble of the helicopter crash to determine how many people may have been aboard. (AP: Ethan Swope)
In short:
At least three people have died after a helicopter crashed between two buildings near the site of a separate fatal bus crash in Los Angeles.
Fire department authorities say at least one of the victims was a pedestrian near to the chopper crash site.
What's next?
National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were expected to investigate the crash further.
At least three people have been killed in Los Angeles after a helicopter crashed between two buildings near the site of a separate fatal bush crash, according to local authorities.
Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Captain Branden Silverman told media that authorities were still working to determine how many people may have been aboard the aircraft at the time of the incident.
He said one of the victims was a pedestrian in a car park near the helicopter crash site.
LAFD firefighters were still searching the helicopter wreckage, and authorities from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were expected to investigate the crash, Mr Silverman said.
"First arriving unit reports an unknown make/type of helicopter has gone down between two commercial buildings," an LAFD emergency alert said.
"Fire from the crash is exposing four vehicles. Firefighters are in offensive mode, attacking the fire and assessing patients and medical triage."
A second alert later confirmed that three people had been declared dead at the scene and another was "transported to a local hospital in unknown condition".
The fire from the helicopter crash, which took dozens of firefighters to extinguish, also damaged four cars and two storage containers, the alert said.
The parking lot is for a large one-story building, but the type of business was not immediately clear.
Mr Silverman described the helicopter as "pretty well destroyed" and said firefighters would need to examine the rubble to see how many victims were aboard.
He told reporters he had been at the scene of an earlier fatal accident between a bus and car when firefighters noticed a "smoke column" rising from the scene of the helicopter crash.
Two people were killed and six others injured in the vehicle collision which involved an SUV becoming lodged in the side of a public bus.
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