A motorist was arrested after authorities say she slammed her SUV into a city bus in Los Angeles, killing at least two people and injuring six others in a prelude to a second deadly tragedy: the fiery crash of a TV news helicopter that was covering the collision.
Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, of Simi Valley, was arrested Monday night and is being held at a Los Angeles jail with bail set at $4 million, police said. Information on a lawyer who could speak on her behalf wasn’t immediately available.
Colleen Williams, an NBC4 Los Angeles anchor, confirmed during live broadcasts that two people were killed Tuesday when the chopper went down. At least one other person was killed on the ground, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
“We are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, process it,” Williams said, her voice shaking with emotion. Moments later the coverage cut off.
There were no immediate details on what may have caused the helicopter to crash. But an alarm can be heard sounding inside the helicopter's cockpit as it loses altitude in the final video the crew broadcast live before the crash.
The helicopter went down near a large storage facility in the neighborhood of Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley, officials said. News crews were reporting on a collision from earlier in the day, when an SUV slammed into the middle of a city bus, killing at least two people and injuring six others. Photos and videos online showed half the SUV lodged in the side of the bus.
At least four cars and two storage containers on the ground burned after the helicopter caught fire, which was quickly put out, according to officials. NBC4 reporter Robert Kovacik was at the bus scene and saw black smoke and rushed to the helicopter crash site. Dozens of police cars surrounded the scene as ambulances entered.
Two people were brought to a hospital, said Rico A. Gross, a fire department battalion chief. Their conditions were not immediately released.
