Two helicopters collide over Rio de Janeiro, killing six including Oliver Tree

Two helicopters collided over Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning and crashed in the city’s western zone, killing all six people aboard including comedian and singer Oliver Tree, according to reports.

Rio de Janeiro’s Military Fire Department said that one of the helicopters crashed on a car dealership, where several electric vehicles were parked, igniting a fire that was extinguished.

Officials said an investigation is under way to determine the cause of the collision.

Tree, who was in Brazil on a world tour and was due to be in the UK in September, was aboard one of the helicopters that crashed, leaving all occupants dead, a police source told AFP.

The alternative singer and internet personality was listed as one of six people on the manifests of the two aircraft shared by the source, who said the victims could not be formally identified yet as they were badly burned in the crash.

The passengers alongside the singer included a Brazilian music producer, Argentine video director and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known online as “Gaspi.”

The helicopters collided mid-air in the western suburb of Recreio dos Bandeirantes before plummeting into the car park of an electric car dealership, setting ablaze about 20 cars, according to firefighters.

One of the helicopters was carrying five people and the other only the pilot. There were no survivors.

Thirty-two-year-old Tree – with a distinctive bowl haircut and meme-worthy internet persona – was known for hits such as “Life Goes On”, “Miss You”, and “Alien Boy”.

He has more than 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with his top songs listened to over 700m times.