A helicopter crashed into a 1,000 foot high radio tower Sunday night in Houston, Texas, causing a massive fire ball and killing multiple people, including a child.
Witnesses told the Houston Chronicle that the helicopter was consumed by fire after striking a radio tower around 8 p.m. Sunday near Engelke Street and Ennis Street on the east side of the city:
Firefighters at the nearby Station 17 on Navigation heard the crash and were among the first to respond, Mayor John Whitmire said during a news conference at the scene.
Police and fire officials made a grim request urging nearby residents to look for fallen helicopter parts but also human remains in their yards in the morning. If found, residents should call 911 to report what they found.
Marco Perez saw the crash from an outdoor concert at the nearby Our Lady of Guadalupe church on Navigation.
“We saw this bright light flying toward the church,” Perez said. “That light turned into an orange red fireball.”
Concertgoers gasped as they heard the shattering of metal, he said.
“The band stopped because everyone was screaming,” he said.
The tower belonged to Univision’s KAMA-FM station, which plays mainly Latin pop, the Chronicle reports. The crash sparked a massive fire in the grass field surrounding the radio tower, which surged to the size of two or three city blocks before it was contained, fire officials told the New York Times. The flight plan of the R44 helicopter is not currently known, and the families of the victims have not yet been notified.
Surrounding neighborhoods were left undamaged by the crash, but the event certainly left its mark on residents. From the Times:
The crash shook Eric Chaney’s home for a few seconds and felt like an earthquake. An explosion followed and the lights in his home flickered on and off briefly.
“It could have certainly fell into my house,” said Mr. Chaney, 30, who lives near the tower. He said he was happy that the tower “fell directly straight down and didn’t collide or impact with any of the houses surrounding the perimeter.”
Sam Elsaadi said he was having dinner on the patio of a restaurant in the Greater East End 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, said in telephone interview on Sunday night.
Mr. Elsaadi left the restaurant and drove a few blocks to where the accident occurred. He arrived at the fenced off area at the base of the structure. Shards of the tower were all over the ground and the grass was on fire, he said.
Fire officials are urging residents to look for helicopter debris and possible human remains in their yards. They are to notify emergency services immediately upon finding anything the might be from the crash.
This is a breaking story and we will update when we know more.