Four dead after helicopter crashes and catches fire near Montreal, police say

Four people died Saturday after a helicopter crashed and caught fire in Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville, a small town about 50 km (31 miles) from Montreal, Quebec provincial police said.

Emergency crews were called shortly after 2:30 p.m. local time and arrived to find the aircraft on fire. Sgt. Audrey-Anne Bilodeau of the Sûreté du Québec told the BBC that all occupants were declared dead at the scene.

The victims have not been publicly identified. Bilodeau said the aircraft appeared to be a private helicopter, and police said the identification process could take a few days.

The crash site is near Rang des Écossais road, off Highway 10, according to Bilodeau. Police were first alerted by an emergency call about a helicopter in distress that may have crashed and caught fire.

About an hour after the call, the fire had been brought under control, though officials were still working at the site just before 10 p.m. local time.

The Sûreté du Québec's Major Crime Unit is leading the investigation, working with crime scene technicians and investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The TSB investigates civil aviation accidents, while the provincial police probe is focused on the circumstances of the crash. No cause has been released.

The crash occurred in a rural area of Quebec's Montérégie region near Highway 10, prompting a multi-agency emergency response. As investigators work at the scene, police have not said what led to the flight going down.