Breaking: At least three dead in LA helicopter crash near fatal bus accident - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

At least three people have died after a news helicopter crashed between two buildings near the site of a separate fatal bus crash in Los Angeles.

Fire department authorities say at least one of the victims was a pedestrian near to the chopper crash site.

National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are expected to investigate the crash further.

At least three people have been killed in Los Angeles after a news helicopter crashed between two buildings near the site of a separate fatal bush crash, according to local authorities.

The NBCLA media outlet has confirmed the helicopter was one of its news choppers which had been flying in the area while reporting on the bus crash.

Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Captain Branden Silverman told media that authorities were still working to determine how many people may have been aboard the aircraft at the time of the incident.

Firefighters are scouring the rubble of the helicopter crash to determine how many people may have been aboard. (AP: Ethan Swope)

He said one of the victims was a pedestrian in a car park near the helicopter crash site.

Vision from the scene in the immediate aftermath of the crash appeared to show that the wreckage of the aircraft had erupted into a fireball on the ground.

LAFD firefighters were still searching the helicopter wreckage, and authorities from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were expected to investigate the crash, Captain Silverman said.

"First arriving unit reports an unknown make/type of helicopter has gone down between two commercial buildings," an LAFD emergency alert said.

"Fire from the crash is exposing four vehicles. Firefighters are in offensive mode, attacking the fire and assessing patients and medical triage."

A second alert later confirmed that three people had been declared dead at the scene and another was "transported to a local hospital in unknown condition".

The fire from the helicopter crash, which took dozens of firefighters to extinguish, also damaged four cars and two storage containers, the alert said.

The parking lot is for a large one-story building, but the type of business was not immediately clear.

Captain Silverman described the helicopter as "pretty well destroyed" and said firefighters would need to examine the rubble to see how many victims were aboard.

He told reporters he had been at the scene of an earlier fatal accident between a bus and car when firefighters noticed a smoke column rising from the scene of the helicopter crash.

Two people were killed and six others injured in the vehicle collision which involved an SUV becoming lodged in the side of a public bus.

LA Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement to say she was "absolutely devastated by the loss of life" in the accident.

"My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash," she said on X.