Two helicopters collided in midair earlier than crashing into automobile park of electrical car dealership, fireplace service says.
Printed On 14 Jun 2026
Two helicopters have collided in mid-air over the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro, killing all six individuals on board, native authorities mentioned.
Officers have launched an investigation into the reason for Sunday morning’s crash over a western suburb of the town referred to as Recreio dos Bandeirantes.
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Firefighters mentioned the helicopters collided earlier than plummeting into the car parking zone of an electrical automobile dealership, setting about 20 autos on fireplace.
Hearth companies spokesman Fabio Contreiras mentioned the blaze was tough to extinguish due to poisonous gases launched by lithium-ion batteries within the electrical autos.
“When this sort of battery catches fireplace, it releases extremely poisonous gases and intensifies each the temperature and severity of the blaze,” Contreiras mentioned.
“Extinguishing a hearth in one among these autos requires three to 4 occasions the quantity of water wanted for the standard automobile fireplace.”
He added that the encircling space was densely populated and that the loss of life toll would have been far larger had the helicopters not crashed into the automobile park.
Contreiras mentioned rescue staff had found one helicopter in flames among the many electrical automobiles, with 5 victims inside. A second helicopter, discovered about 100m (328 toes) away, was carrying solely the pilot, who additionally died.
Particles from the helicopters was discovered a whole bunch of metres from the crash website. Footage shared on-line confirmed a thick plume of smoke rising from the automobile park into the sky.
Contreiras mentioned authorities would want to overview recordings of the incident earlier than the reason for the crash could possibly be confirmed.
Helicopter crashes are widespread in Brazil.
In keeping with statistics from the Middle for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA), there had been 84 plane accidents in 2026 previous to Sunday’s crash.
