Six dead, including singer Oliver Tree and YouTuber Gaspi, in Rio helicopter collision

Two helicopters collided mid-air over the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning, killing all six people on board. The crash occurred at around 09:00 local time above the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighbourhood in the city's southwest.

One of the aircraft was carrying five people; the other had only its pilot. There were no survivors. Rio de Janeiro's Civil Police identified the victims as American singer Oliver Tree, passengers Lucas Brito Chaves and Lucas Vignale, Argentine content creator Gaspar Prim (known as Gaspi), and the two pilots, Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac.

Fire service spokesperson Fábio Contreras told local media that five bodies were recovered from inside one helicopter and a sixth was found near the second aircraft. One helicopter came down on land rented by Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, setting fire to around 20 parked cars. The second helicopter crashed roughly 100 metres away and did not catch fire. Debris was scattered tens of metres from both impact sites, hitting nearby residential and office buildings.

Approximately 45 firefighters and 15 vehicles were deployed to the scene, and the blaze was under control within about an hour. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere confirmed that there were foreign nationals on board one of the aircraft. Brazil's Air Force said investigators from the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Centre (Cenipa) had been deployed to open a formal inquiry.

Born Oliver Tree Nickell on 29 June 1993 in Santa Cruz, California, Oliver Tree was known for his bowl haircut, oversized clothing, and genre-blending alt-pop sound. He rose to fame with the song "When I'm Down" and later released hits including "Life Goes On", "Miss You" and "Alien Boy". His debut album, Ugly Is Beautiful, topped two Billboard charts. Tree was in Brazil as part of his 30-country world tour, having performed in São Paulo on 6 June. His next scheduled date was in Lisbon on 1 July.

Gaspar Prim, 23, was an Argentine content creator with around 2.8 million YouTube subscribers. He built a significant following across Latin America and Spain through street interviews and prank-style comedy.