Basketball icon Kobe Bryant was among five people killed when a helicopter slammed into a hillside Sunday near Malibu in Los Angeles County, according to multiple media outlets.
CNN and ESPN said Bryant, 41, was on the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter.
The county Sheriff’s Department said all five people aboard were killed and that the investigation was continuing. Firefighters doused a quarter-acre brush fire, said fire Capt. Tony Imbrenda.
“The wreckage is still pretty hot up there,” Imbrenda. “We still have some fire activity on the hill.”
The crash took place in Calabasas, a city of about 25,000 people in the Santa Monica Mountains about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Art Marrujo, a dispatch supervisor with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said firefighters quickly doused the blaze.
Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 20 years and won five NBA championships, reports The Associated Press.
The news came as a shock to celebrities.
“I cannot believe this is real. My god. Oh my god,” Chrissy Teigen wrote on Twitter.
“This can’t be real there’s no way!!! My heart hurts,” tweeted out Khloe Kardashian.
“Dreams and Nightmares” rapper Meek Mill was also stunned by the news.
“It’s not no telling what you gone wake up to nowadays,” he tweeted.
Beyoncé’s proteges, Chloe and Halle, expressed their condolences for the late NBA player.
“Completely numb. RIP kobe bryant. praying for your family,” they tweeted Sunday.
