The Military Fire Department of the State of Rio de Janeiro said the helicopter crashed in a dense wooded, mountainous area in Tijuca National Park
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/helicopter-crash-080926-1-e1fbdffe05ff4a0c8562b83acdc3b5b6.jpg "A Robinson R44 helicopter crashes in a forested area near Vista Chinesa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 08,")
Credit: CBMERJ Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- A teen girl, her mom, her grandmother and an experienced pilot were killed in a helicopter crash in Brazil on Aug. 8
- The Military Fire Department of the State of Rio de Janeiro said the helicopter crashed in a dense wooded, mountainous area
- “The fire department confirmed four fatalities, all burned beyond recognition,” officials with the department told PEOPLE
Four people — including a teenage girl, her mother, her grandmother and an experienced pilot — were killed in a helicopter crash in Brazil.
The Military Fire Department of the State of Rio de Janeiro told PEOPLE in a statement that the agency was called to the site of a helicopter crash in Tijuca National Park — located in the Alto da Boa Vista neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro — just after 11:10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8.
The department’s air operations team said that the sightseeing flight crashed near Vista Chinesa, a Chinese architecture-inspired pavilion in a dense wooded, mountainous area in the national park.
“The fire department confirmed four fatalities, all burned beyond recognition: one man, the pilot of the aircraft, and three women, passengers,” officials told PEOPLE in a statement.
Credit: CBMERJ Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty
While the Civil Police’s forensics team has yet to formally identify the victims, officials with the Colombian consulate in Rio de Janeiro told the news agency AFP that the three women on Saturday’s flight were part of the same family.
They were visiting Rio de Janeiro to celebrate another girl’s 15th birthday, according to Colombian consul general Diana Paez.
Fire department personnel put out several fires at the crash site, and officials said that investigators are still working to confirm the helicopter’s registration number.
“The area remains completely isolated to preserve the scene of the incident and allow for the work of the forensic team,” officials said. “The victims were taken to the Forensic Medical Institute after an examination by the Civil Police.”
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Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere called for more oversight into helicopter flights in the aftermath of the incident.
“We can’t forget that we have yet another helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro in [two] months,” Cavaliere told press after the incident, per the Associated Press. “I called the president of the National Civil Aviation Agency [ANAC] and forwarded a formal letter so that they may take immediate action regarding the flights in the city.”
Credit: CBMERJ Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty
“I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy, who count on all our support at this time,” the mayor added in a statement shared to social media.
The Colombian consulate did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further information on Sunday, Aug. 9.
The safety of helicopter flights in Rio de Janeiro have come under scrutiny in recent months. Six people, including the musician Oliver Tree, died in a crash when two aircrafts collided in midair on June 14, CNN Brazil reported at the time.
The six fatalities included five people in one helicopter and the pilot of the other aircraft, per CNN Brazil. Rio de Janeiro’s Military Fire Department said one of the helicopters crashed into the parking lot of a car dealership and ignited a fire, per the Associated Press.
