Two helicopters collided over Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning and crashed in the city’s western zone, killing all six people aboard, including American singer and comedian Oliver Tree, firefighters said.
Rio de Janeiro’s Military Fire Department said one of the helicopters crashed in the parking lot of a car dealership, where several electric vehicles were parked, igniting a fire that was quickly extinguished.
Officials said an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the collision.
Police said that Tree was on the list of passengers handed to aviation authorities, but have not been able to identify the bodies of those killed in the crash. There were three other passengers in Tree’s helicopter and the pilot. The other helicopter carried only the pilot, according to the manifest provided by Brazilian authorities.
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Fernandes de Freitas, a tire repair worker, said he saw one of the helicopters in flames following the midair collision, and noticed that one of the passengers jumped out of the other aircraft before it hit the ground. “It was terrifying, absolutely horrifying,” De Freitas said.
Tree performed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 4, and published a video on his Instagram Saturday in which he is playing soccer in a Brazilian neighborhood. Tree was on a world tour to promote his 2026 album “Love You Madly Hate You Badly.” His next scheduled performance was on July 1 in Lisbon, Portugal, according to his official website.
According to Variety, Tree had a large following on TikTok and his songs were often used in videos on the platform. “Life Goes On” has been featured in more than 3.7 million videos since its 2021 release, while his 2022 song “Miss You” is featured in about 1.5 million videos, the Outlet reported.
