A helicopter crashed into a barge on the Mississippi River on Thursday, killing two people who were on the helicopter and closing the river to traffic near Alton, Illinois, a US Coast Guard spokesperson said.
No one was on board the barge, which caught fire after the crash, spokesperson Jonathan Lindberg said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, he said.
The helicopter ran into a powerline and crashed around 11 a.m. approximately half a mile downriver from the Alton Dam, Rivers Pointe Fire District Chief Rick Pender said according to CBS News.
Fire, emergency medical and law enforcement personnel responded to the crash, and federal agencies were on the way, Pender said. The Federal Aviation Authority and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
"A Hughes 369D helicopter crashed on a barge in the Mississippi River near East Alton, Illinois, around 11:05 a.m. local time on Thursday, Aug. 7. Two people were on board. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation and provide any updates," the FAA stated.
Power company Ameren Corp said a contractor and subcontractor were repairing and replacing tower lighting and marker balls on transmission lines.
"We are saddened about today's tragic incident," Ameren said, adding that it would cooperate with investigators.
The river, a major shipping waterway for crops and other goods, shut from mile marker 199 to mile marker 201 as officials investigated the incident and made sure no debris was in the water, Lindberg said. There was no estimate for when the river would reopen, he said.
Alton is downriver from the Mississippi's confluence with the Illinois River, and the closure could delay barges carrying grain to the US Gulf.
This is a developing story.