27th January, 2020
Nine persons were aboard the crashed Sikorsky helicopter that killed NBA legend, Kobe Bryant and his 13 year-old daughter, Gianna.
The revised figure from initial five, was given at a press conference addressed by Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Daryl Osby and other authorities.
“All survivors were determined to have been perished,” Osby said, adding it took authorities eight minutes to get to the crash site.
Villanueva confirmed a total of nine victims, the pilot and eight others, died in the crash.
“Our firefighters on the scene indicated there was a debris-filled and steep terrain with quarter-acre brushfire,” Osby said.
“Our firefighters hiked into the accident site with medical equipment and hose lines to extinguish the stubborn fire, as it included the brushfire debris from the helicopter. The fire also included magnesium which is very hard for our firefighters to extinguish because magnesium reacts with oxygen and water.”
At the time of the press conference, Villanueva said authorities were awaiting the arrival of the coroner’s office to “assist in the recovery of the remains,” adding that it is “entirely inappropriate to identify anybody by name until the coroner has made the identifications.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriffs later tweeted condolences to the families of the ‘nine souls’ on board the helicopter.
“The #LA Sheriff’s department extends its deepest condolences to the families & friends of the 9 souls lost aboard this tragic helicopter crash in #Calabasas.
“Our hearts go out to you in this extremely difficult time”.