Helicopter Crashes Into Barge on Mississippi River

Two people died when a helicopter crashed into a barge in the Mississippi River near East Alton, Illinois, on Thursday, the 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 AP reports. The state patrol said no one was on the barge when the crash happened. The river in the area has been closed to commercial navigation. East Alton is about 20 miles north of St. Louis.

The helicopter ran into a power line and crashed around 11am Thursday on the Mississippi River about a half-mile downriver from the Alton Dam, said Rivers Pointe Fire District Chief Rick Pender. Matthew Fischer, deputy fire chief of the Alton Fire Department, said the docked barge was carrying the chemical ethylene glycol, used in antifreeze and coolant, the Alton Telegraph reports. A fire caused by the crash was put out in around an hour.