Two helicopters collided in midair over Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning before crashing in the city’s western zone, killing all six people on board, firefighters said, with police naming American singer and comedian Oliver Tree among those listed as passengers provided to aviation authorities, though the identities of the dead have not yet been confirmed.
The Rio de Janeiro Military Fire Department said one of the helicopters came down in a car dealership parking lot, where several electric vehicles were parked, triggering a fire that was later extinguished.
Authorities have opened an investigation to determine what caused the collision.
Tree had performed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 4 and posted a video on Instagram on Saturday showing him playing soccer in a Brazilian neighborhood.
Argentine streaming platform Blender said content creator Gaspar Prim Díaz, known as Gaspi, was aboard one of the helicopters. Gaspi had more than 2.8 million YouTube subscribers and was 23 years old.
“Thanks for your art, your magic and your sensibility, every one of us will miss you,” Blender said on its X account.
Fernandes de Freitas, a tire repair worker, said he saw one of the helicopters engulfed in flames after the midair collision and noticed a passenger jumping from the other aircraft before it hit the ground.
“It was terrifying, absolutely horrifying,” De Freitas said.
