Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.
Two people were killed Thursday after the helicopter they were in struck power lines crossing the Mississippi River and crashed onto a barge below, police said. The accident happened around 11 a.m. as the crew of the helicopter was conducting work on the power lines that cross the river in the area of St.
Charles County, Missouri, State Patrol Cpl. Dallas Thompson told reporters. The helicopter crashed onto the barge and there was a fire, but it was quickly extinguished, he said. No one on the barge was hurt. First responders evacuated the vicinity because the crash had sent a power line into the water, but it was later found that the wire was not live, Thompson said. The crash happened near Alton, Illinois, which is across the Missouri state line and the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, officials said. Wallace Maier, who was conducting a fishing charter in the area when the crash occurred, told NBC affiliate KSDK of St. Louis that it happened fast. 'As soon as it touched it, there was just an explosion. It was just gone,' Maier told the station. Utility company Ameren said that a contractor and its subcontractor were repairing and replacing tower lighting and marker balls on transmission lines in Madison County, Illinois, when the accident occurred. 'We are saddened about today’s tragic incident. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the victims’ families and colleagues,' a company spokesperson said in a statement. 'We will cooperate with the investigation' The National Transportation Safety Board said that it will investigate the crash. It said the helicopter involved was a Hughes 369D.
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