News Helicopter Crashes Near Space Needle

SEATTLE (AP) — A news helicopter for an area TV station has crashed outside its station near the Seattle Space Needle.

The station says the copter was apparently coming in for a landing on its rooftop Tuesday morning when it possibly hit the side of the building and went down, hitting several vehicles on Broad Street.

The copter and cars exploded in flames and casualties were reported.

People in the area reported seeing a huge cloud of smoke as firefighters and police responded.