Three British people have died in a helicopter accident at the Grand Canyon, the Foreign Office said.
The helicopter was on a tour of the canyon, one of the top US tourist destinations and more than a mile deep, when it went down on Saturday at around 5.20pm.
It is not clear what caused the crash.
Six passengers and a pilot were on board the helicopter when it crashed into jagged rocks by the Grand Canyon’s West Rim, according to the Associated Press.
Of the six British people involved, three have been killed and three are injured.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are providing support to the families of six British visitors involved in a helicopter accident at the Grand Canyon on 10 February, and we are in close contact with the US emergency services.”
The helicopter, an Eurocopter EC130 from Airbus, “crashed under unknown circumstances in the Grand Canyon” and suffered substantial damage, Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said in an email, according to Reuters.
Police chief Francis Bradley told CNN: “We are having difficulties getting the four people out of the crash site area to the hospital.
“It is too windy and it’s dark and the area is very rugged.”
The helicopter was operated by tour company Papillon Airways, according to the BBC.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Check back for the fullest version. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter here, and on Facebook here.
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