Multiple killed as helicopter crashes into Houston radio tower (videos)

A helicopter crashed into a radio tower in Houston on Sunday night, October 20, leaving several people dead, including a child, according to authorities. 

The incident happened at 7:54 p.m. in Houston’s Greater East End, close enough to a fire station that firefighters there heard the crash, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said late Sunday during a news conference. 

The helicopter slammed into a communication tower behind homes in Houston’s Second Ward, causing a large explosion. 

The identities of the victims and their ages have not yet been released. 

The crash caused the radio tower to collapse, igniting a fire the size of two to three blocks in a field below, a fire official told the New York Times. It was the only structure damaged in the incident. 

Video from the scene showed wreckage in the area, with police and fire officials seen trying to keep bystanders away from the site of crash. 

“My buddy behind me told me to look up in the sky, and I just saw the cell tower crumbling down,” Manuel Arciniega, who was nearby at the time of the crash, told CNN affiliate KPRC. “They said a helicopter hit it.” 

Sam Elsaadi was having dinner on the patio of a restaurant in the neighborhood when he saw the tower collapse. 

“I heard something like fireworks and I looked up and I saw the tower flame out and completely crumble,” Mr Elsaadi, 42, told the New York Times. 

When he drove to the crash site, he saw debris from the tower strewn across a large area and grass in the field on fire. 

Local media outlets reported a large number of emergency personnel were responding to the scene. 

Police and fire officials have urged residents near the crash site to call 911 if they find anything on their property that could help in their investigation. 

The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash, said the fire department. 

“It will be a large investigation because of the expanse of the accident,” Chief Noe Diaz of the Houston Police Department said.

Watch videos from the scene below.