Tehran, IRNA - Some U.S Officials said they believed no one had survived the midair collision between a plane carrying 64 people and an Army helicopter carrying three.
A regional jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided midair with an Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport, close to Washington, D.C.
Helicopters from law enforcement agencies flew over the area, looking for survivors. Inflatable rescue boats were also launched into the nearby Potomac River.
Law enforcement officials told New York Times that 28 bodies have been recovered by search crews and no survivor has been found so far.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the crash happened around 9 p.m. EST when the Bombardier CRJ700, which had taken off from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military Blackhawk helicopter approaching the runway.
Three US Army soldiers were on board the military helicopter.
In response to the crash, all flights at the airport were temporarily canceled.
In a statement, US President Donald Trump said he was “fully briefed on this terrible accident” and offered prayers for the passengers on board.
Citing an informed source, CNN also said fatalities were now “confirmed” and that rescue teams have not retrieved any survivors from the water so far.
Any survivors in the river could be at serious risk as forecasters said temperatures are expected to drop below freezing in the Washington area.
Washington D.C.’s emergency chief John Donnelly said the search and rescue mission was complicated by freezing and dark conditions in the river.
“There is wind. There are pieces of ice in the water... And because there is not a lot of light, you are out there searching every square inch of space,” he told reporters.
“These are very tough conditions for [rescuers] to dive in,” he added.
Russia’s state media reported that two world-champion Russian figure skaters were among those on board the passenger plane.
The crash occurred in one of the most monitored airspaces in the world, just over three miles from the White House and the Capitol.
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