Basketball great Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash

Reuters , Sunday 26 Jan 2020

 Kobe Bryant
Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant gestures while responding to questions from sportscaster Jim Gray during the "End of an Era: A Conversation with NBA Great Kobe Bryant" discussion at the 2016 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California AFP

Retired basketball star Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on Sunday morning, the Washington Post reported, citing two people with knowledge of the situation.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff said on Twitter that five people died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, about 40 miles (65 km) northwest of Los Angeles, and that there were no survivors. It did not identify the victims.

First responders put out the flames of the crash site, the sheriff's department said, posting a picture of a fire truck and smoke emerging from the brush in a ravine.

Bryant was known to use a helicopter for travel dating to his days as a star player for the Los Angeles Lakers, when he commuted to games in a Sikorsky S-76 chopper, the celebrity news website TMZ said.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration identified the crashed helicopter as a Sikorsky S-76, saying in a statement that the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate.

Bryant won five NBA championship rings with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was an 18-times NBA All-Star who wore the No. 24 during his 20-year career with the team.

Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, have four daughters: Gianna, Natalia, Bianca and Capri, who was born in June 2019.

Short link: