Los Angeles helicopter crash in parking lot kills at least three

A helicopter crashed into a Los Angeles parking lot, killing at least three people. Investigators are now sifting the wreckage as officials work to confirm how many were on board.

In Short

• One victim was in the parking lot, not aboard the aircraft
• More than 50 firefighters responded and extinguished the fire by evening
• Four vehicles and two storage containers were damaged in the crash

At least three people were killed after a helicopter crashed into a parking lot in Los Angeles on Tuesday, officials said. Another person was taken to hospital, though their condition was not immediately clear, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Officials said it was not immediately clear whether some of those killed had been on the helicopter. At least one person who died was outside in the parking lot, Capt. Branden Silverman, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said during a news conference.

Silverman said the helicopter crashed into a parking lot, into or next to some parked vehicles. The parking lot serves a large one-storey building, though the type of business there was not immediately clear. More than 50 firefighters responded to the crash, the fire department said. The fire damaged four vehicles and two storage containers, but had been put out by Tuesday evening, officials said.

Describing the helicopter as "pretty well destroyed", Silverman said officials would have to search through the wreckage to determine how many victims had been on board. "We're trying to determine how many patients were inside the helicopter," he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash. Earlier in the day, in a separate incident in Los Angeles, two people were killed and six others were injured after an SUV crashed into a city bus, officials said. Photos and videos online showed around half of the SUV lodged into the side of an MTA bus as firefighters worked at the scene.

In all, Tuesday saw two fatal incidents in Los Angeles, with the helicopter crash killing at least three people and a separate SUV-bus crash leaving two dead and six injured, as officials worked to establish the full details of both cases.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends