Two people died on Thursday after a helicopter they were on board crashed into a barge on the Mississippi River, shutting the waterway to traffic near Alton, Illinois, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
00:00A helicopter was just working on these power lines. It hit the power line, blew up.
00:08Two people were killed on Thursday when a helicopter crashed into a barge on the Mississippi River, halting traffic near Alton, Illinois.
00:16The National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, said preliminary findings indicate the MD-369 helicopter struck power lines before crashing.
00:26The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed there were two people on board and the NTSB will lead the investigation, with an investigator expected on site Friday.
00:36Utility company AmerenCorp said a contractor and subcontractor had been repairing and replacing tower lighting and marker balls on transmission lines and pledged full cooperation with investigators.
00:48U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Jonathan Lindbergh said no one was on the barge, which caught fire after the crash.
00:56He added that the river, an important shipping route for crops and goods, remains closed between mile markers 199 and 201, with no reopening estimate.
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