Three people have been killed and another injured after a helicopter crashed between two commercial buildings in the Chatsworth neighbourhood of Los Angeles, authorities said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said four people were assessed at the scene. Three were pronounced dead, while the fourth was taken to a local hospital in unknown condition.
One of those killed was a pedestrian who was in a parking lot when the helicopter came down, LAFD Fire Captain Branden Silverman said.
Police officers pulled the victim away from the fire area before paramedics pronounced the person dead.
It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard the helicopter or whether the other victims were on the ground.
The aircraft crashed just hours after another deadly incident in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley north of central Los Angeles, where an SUV collided with a Metro bus, killing three people and injuring six others.
The LAFD said it was not immediately clear whether the helicopter crash was connected to the earlier bus accident.
The first firefighters to arrive at the scene found the helicopter down between the two buildings, with flames spreading to four vehicles.
A total of 56 firefighters responded and eventually extinguished the blaze.
No buildings were damaged by the fire, although four vehicles and two storage containers were affected.
Silverman said the helicopter was engulfed in flames when emergency crews arrived, as search teams worked through the wreckage.
Authorities had not immediately established the make or model of the helicopter or where it had originated.
Silverman also declined to confirm whether the aircraft was a news helicopter, saying investigators had not established that information.
