Los Angeles (AFP)

Rescue workers found and evacuated the bodies of nine people on board the helicopter carrying basketball player Kobe Bryant, which crashed on a hill near Los Angeles on Sunday, the county medical examiner said on Tuesday. .

Three bodies had already been "removed from the debris of the helicopter" on the day of the crash, they said in a statement. "The next day, searches for the other six occupants continued. Shortly after, the bodies were located, removed from the accident site and transported" to the forensic center, they say.

"Investigators are currently working to identify the deceased" and the services of the Los Angeles County coroner will communicate the identities "as soon as they have been verified and the families notified," the text concludes.

Even if it was not officially disclosed, the list of victims of the accident was already known.

The helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76B, on board of which were the nine victims, crashed shortly before 10:00 a.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT) Sunday, when heavy fog enveloped the region. He had taken off from Newport Beach (about 60 km south of Los Angeles), where Bryant resided, in the direction of the Mamba Academy, a sports center owned by the star located 135 km away.

Authorities and experts seem for the moment to favor an accidental maneuver linked to the fog rather than possible mechanical problems. The aircraft did not have a black box because it was not necessary on this type of helicopter.

Investigators at the US agency responsible for transportation safety (NTSB) spoke of "a really terrible accident scene" where the debris is scattered over nearly 200 meters.

Given the affliction that hit the Lakers, Bryant's lifelong club, the NBA announced the postponement of the derby initially scheduled for Tuesday at the Staples Center, which was to oppose the Clippers, the other club in Los Angeles.

A very rare decision in the NBA, which canceled a match between the Celtics and Indiana in 2013 after the Boston Marathon bombing, and others in 1963 after the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

© 2020 AFP