Helicopter explodes into flames near LA bus crash, leaving at least 3 dead in horrific scene

A news helicopter crashed in a Los Angeles neighborhood Tuesday night and burst into flames, leaving at least three people dead near the scene of an earlier crash involving an SUV and a city bus, authorities said.

The helicopter went down around 7 p.m. near a one-story commercial building in Chatsworth , in the San Fernando Valley, while news crews were covering the bus accident that had already claimed at least two lives and left six others injured, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department .

An anchor for NBC4 Los Angeles confirmed during a live broadcast that the station’s helicopter crashed shortly before 7 p.m.

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Branden Silverman said at least one person killed in the helicopter crash was found outside the aircraft, in a parking lot next to the commercial building. It remained unclear whether the other two victims were inside the helicopter or on the ground.

One person was transported to a hospital, though their condition was not immediately known.

“We’re trying to determine how many patients were inside the helicopter,” Silverman said, describing the aircraft as “pretty well destroyed.” Authorities said crews would search through the wreckage to determine how many people were on board.

The crash also sparked a fire that damaged at least four vehicles and two storage containers on the ground. The flames were quickly extinguished, with more than 50 firefighters responding to the scene.

The helicopter crash occurred about two hours after an SUV slammed into the side of a city bus in Chatsworth, killing at least two people and injuring six others. Images shared online showed the front half of the SUV embedded into the side of an MTA bus .

The two crashes occurred about 1.5 miles apart .

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will investigate the cause of the helicopter crash.