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US basketball legend Kobe Bryant has been killed in a helicopter crash in the city of Calabasas, California.
Bryant was travelling in a private helicopter when it burst into flames, according to media reports.
The LA County Sheriff’s department said five people died in the helicopter crash on Sunday, with no survivors.
“We received a call just before 10am this morning of an aircraft down in the Malibu area, right off of Las Vergenes, essentially Calabasas. Some folks were out here mountain biking this morning, they saw an aircraft in distress, they went down into the hillside. This was a helicopter, it’s been confirmed it was an S-76 Sikorsky helicopter and unfortunately there were no survivors.”
Confirming the death, the City of Calabasas confirmed the news with “great sadness”. It said “nobody on the ground was hurt”.
Eyewitnesses told news site TMZ they heard the helicopter’s engine spluttering before it went down.
The cause of the crash is being investigated.
Five-time NBA champion Bryant, 41, played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He retired in April 2016.
Bryant’s achievements include being the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player and two-time NBA Finals MVP. He was also two-time NBA scoring champion and a two-time Olympic champion.
He also won an Oscar for best short animated film in 2018 for Dear Basketball, a five-minute film based on a love letter to the sport he had written in 2015.
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