Three people were killed and one was injured when an NBC Los Angeles news helicopter crashed and caught fire Tuesday evening in the Chatsworth neighbourhood of the San Fernando Valley, authorities said.
The helicopter went down at about 7 p.m. near the site of an earlier fatal collision involving an SUV and a city bus. The aircraft crashed between commercial buildings, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
One of those killed was on the ground, while two others were aboard the helicopter, local media reports. One person was taken to a hospital after the crash, though their condition was not immediately known.
NBC Los Angeles confirmed during a live broadcast that the aircraft belonged to the station. The helicopter, known as NewsChopper4, was covering the earlier bus crash when it went down.
More than 50 firefighters responded and extinguished fires that damaged several vehicles and storage containers, the Associated Press reported.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are expected to investigate the cause of the crash.
