The body of ex-American basketball star Kobe Bryant has been identified from among the nine bodies of the victims of his helicopter crash last Sunday near Los Angeles, according to the district's forensic medical center announced Tuesday.

The center said in a statement that the 41-year-old former Los Angeles Lakers star was identified by his fingerprints, along with two other men and a woman.

The two men are baseball coach John Tupelli, 56, who died in the accident with his wife Kerry and their daughter Alyssa, and helicopter pilot Ara Zubayan, 50. The woman identified was Sarah Chester, 45, who was with her daughter Payton.

And "investigators are working to determine the identity of the remaining five deceased," including 13-year-old Bryant Jana.
Aid workers had announced earlier the recovery of the nine bodies of the victims of the plane crash, which crashed on a hillside.

Three bodies had been recovered from the wreckage the day before the accident, before the other six were found the next day. All the bodies were taken to the forensic center.

Bryant, who was crowned five times in the Lakers' shirt before retiring in 2016, died on Sunday as a result of a helicopter crash that was carrying him in Calabasas, Los Angeles, southern California.

The Sikorsky S 76B helicopter crashed at about 10:00 local time (18:00 GMT) Sunday as thick fog surrounded the city.

The plane took off from Newport Beach (60 km south of Los Angeles), where Bryant was staying, toward the former star-owned Mamba Academy, located 135 km away.

According to preliminary information available to the investigation and covered by American newspapers, the flight data indicated difficulties that occurred when the plane flew over the zoo in Los Angeles when the pilot was informed that he was flying at low altitude.
A few minutes later, the helicopter appears to have crashed into a hill about 520 meters from the ground before it caught fire. The plane had no black box, as it was not required for this type of aircraft.

US Transportation Safety Agency investigators spoke of a "terrible accident site" where the wreckage spread about 200 meters away.