2 dead as helicopter crashes into barge in Mississippi River near Illinois

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Two people died when a helicopter crashed into a barge in the Mississippi River near East Alton, Illinois, on Thursday, the US Federal Aviation Administration said.

Cpl Dallas Thompson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed that the two inside the aircraft were killed and that there were no other reported injuries.

The state patrol said no one was on the barge when the crash happened.

The river has been closed to commercial navigation.

The helicopter ran into a powerline and crashed around 11 am Thursday on the Mississippi River about a half-mile downriver from the Alton Dam, said Rivers Pointe Fire District Chief Rick Pender.

Fire, emergency medical and law enforcement personnel responded to the crash. Federal agencies are on the way, Pender said.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

Video provided to KMOV-TV by a witness shows a black plume of smoke rising up from the barge.

East Alton is about 32 kilometres north of St Louis.