Current UPDATE: LA County Sheriff concluded a press conference announcing that the passenger manifest showed nine people were killed in the helicopter crash this morning in Calabasas, California. They would not disclose the names of the deceased, but several reports indicate that Kobe Bryant and his 13 year old daughter were among the departed.
There were no survivors in the crash around 10 a.m. local time Sunday, fire officials said in a press conference. The names of the other victims, which includes six additional passengers and the pilot, will not be publicly identified until next-of-kin are notified, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters.
Earlier UPDATE:Reports also say Gianna Maria has been confirmed on board and died in the crash.
Originally, it was reported that Kobe Bryant along with his daughter were dead as well as 3 others due to a helicopter crash, according to TMZ. The Los Angeles Lakers player was traveling in a private helicopter Sunday January 26th when reportedly a fire broke out. TMZ stated that emergency personnel responded, but nobody on board survived the incident in Calabasas, CA. The death toll has now reached 9 instead of 5 people.
Currently, the cause of the crash is under investigation and the story is still developing. Eyewitnesses have told the publication that they heard "sputtering" from the aircraft before it went down. Bryant is survived by his wife and three daughters - Natalia, Bianca and Capri, who was recently born last June.
Lakers teammate LeBron James recently commented on Bryant when analysts reported that he superseded Kobe's all-time scoring record.
It's just too much. It's too much. The story is too much...It doesn't make sense. Just to make a long story short, now I'm here in a Lakers uniform, in Philadelphia, where he's from. The first time I ever met him, gave me his shoes on All-Star Weekend. It's surreal. It doesn't make no sense, but the universe just puts things in your life. And I guess when you live in the right way, when you just give it everything to whatever you're doing, things happen organically.
Fans are shaken from the very hosts of our shows to athletes to hear such horrifying news.