Six people killed as helicopters collide over Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro

Two helicopters collided successful midair earlier crashing into car parkland of electrical conveyance dealership, occurrence work says.

Two helicopters person collided successful mid-air implicit the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro, sidesplitting each six radical connected board, section authorities said.

Officials person launched an probe into the origin of Sunday morning’s clang implicit a occidental suburb of the metropolis called Recreio dos Bandeirantes.

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Firefighters said the helicopters collided earlier plummeting into the parking batch of an electrical car dealership, mounting astir 20 vehicles connected fire.

Fire services spokesperson Fabio Contreiras said the blaze was hard to extinguish due to the fact that of toxic gases released by lithium-ion batteries successful the electrical vehicles.

“When this benignant of artillery catches fire, it releases highly toxic gases and intensifies some the somesthesia and severity of the blaze,” Contreiras said.

“Extinguishing a occurrence successful 1 of these vehicles requires 3 to 4 times the magnitude of h2o needed for a modular car fire.”

People stitchery adjacent charred vehicles pursuing the clang [Ricardo Moraes/Reuters]

He added that the surrounding country was densely populated and that the decease toll would person been acold higher had the helicopters not crashed into the car park.

Contreiras said rescue workers had discovered 1 chopper successful flames among the electrical cars, with 5 victims inside. A 2nd helicopter, recovered astir 100m (328 feet) away, was carrying lone the pilot, who besides died.

Debris from the helicopters was recovered hundreds of metres from the clang site. Footage shared online showed a heavy plume of fume rising from the car parkland into the sky.

Contreiras said authorities would request to reappraisal recordings of the incidental earlier the origin of the clang could beryllium confirmed.

Helicopter crashes are communal successful Brazil.

According to statistic from the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA), determination had been 84 craft accidents successful 2026 anterior to Sunday’s crash.

Women clasp pursuing the deadly incidental successful Rio de Janeiro [Ricardo Moraes/Reuters]