Six people, including three children, were killed after a tourist helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York on Thursday, authorities said.
Three children and three adults were aboard the helicopter at the time of the crash. Five of the individuals on board were Spanish tourists and the sixth person was the pilot, New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters.
The first calls of the crash came around 15:17 EDT (20:17 GMT) and rescue boats were launched immediately, officials said.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the identities of the victims would not be released until the families are notified. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
The part of the river where the helicopter crashed is near the West Side of Manhattan. The surrounding area is a neighbourhood called the West Village, a trendy area known for its shops and dining, also near the main campus of New York University.
Video footage posted to social media appears to show the helicopter falling out of the sky upside down and splashing down in the Hudson River.
New York’s Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker says that rescue boats were launched immediately after an emergency call was received.
“Swimmers were in the water shortly after the call,” he said.
Once on the scene, officials started searching the water for victims or survivors and initiated immediate life-saving measures but the efforts were unsuccessful.
Four victims were pronounced dead on scene, the other two victims were pronounced dead at an area hospital, officials said at a press conference just hours after the crash.
A BBC journalist who was at the top of the World Trade Center at the time of the crash said there were about a dozen boats surrounding the site of the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the investigation into the crash of the Bell 206, two-bladed helicopter, would be led by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The last fatal helicopter crash in New York City was six years ago. In 2009, a helicopter carrying Italian tourists collided with a private plane over the Hudson River killing nine people.