Tourists amongst six killed after helicopters crash in mid-air fireball explosion over Rio De Janeiro | News World

That is the shocking moment two helicopters crash in mid-air and smash into cars, triggering a sequence of explosions.

All six people on board the aircraft were killed within the collision on Sunday at 8am local time in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

The flaming wreckage of the helicopters smashed into an abandoned churchyard, and the opposite plunged into a carpark.

Flames spread through parked electric vehicles, causing more explosions.

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said that there have been ‘foreign nationals on board one in every of the aircraft,’ without giving further details.

Fire services spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Fabio Contreiras told CNN Brasil on the scene that it was unclear exactly how they collided.

‘Parts of the aircraft are scattered a whole bunch of meters away, so the knowledge we’ve remains to be very preliminary.

‘We actually need to get the recordings and videos to grasp exactly what happened,’ he said.

Contreiras said rescue staff had discovered one helicopter in flames amongst the electrical cars, with five victims inside.

The second helicopter, found some 100 meters away, was carrying only the pilot, who also died.

Contreiras said the undeniable fact that the aircraft had crashed within the parking area had prevented a better death toll.

‘Given the encompassing residences, the accident might have been way more tragic,’ he said.

He highlighted the challenges in fighting a hearth impacting electric vehicles, which contain lithium-ion batteries.

‘When this sort of battery catches fire, it releases highly toxic gases and intensifies each the temperature and the severity of the blaze. Extinguishing a hearth in one in every of these vehicles requires three to 4 times the quantity of water needed for a hearth in an ordinary automobile.’

Authorities said in an announcement: ‘The Brazilian Air Force were called to perform the initial motion of the occurrence involving two aircraft, registration PP-MAC and PR-DJJ, in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, within the Southwest Zone of Rio de Janeiro (RJ).

‘In the course of the initial motion, qualified and accredited professionals apply specific techniques for data collection and confirmation, preservation of elements, initial verification of injury caused to the aircraft or by the aircraft, along with the gathering of other information vital for the investigation.’

In line with statistics from the Centre for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA) — not including this latest collision — there have been 84 aircraft accidents in 2026 to date, leaving 25 people dead.

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