Six people, including three children, were killed after a helicopter carrying a family of tourists crashed into the Hudson River in New York, authorities have said.

The family of five was from Spain and the sixth person was the pilot, New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters on Thursday. All were onboard the helicopter at the time of the crash.

“Our hearts go out to the families,” Adams said.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the identities of the victims will not be released until the families are notified. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Video footage of the incident shows the helicopter falling out of the sky upside down and then splashing into the Hudson River.

Officials said the helicopter lost control soon after turning at the George Washington Bridge to move along the New Jersey shoreline.

The helicopter was operated by New York Helicopters and took off from the Downtown Skyport on the lower side of Manhattan at 14:59 local time (19:59 BST).

What we know about the Hudson helicopter crash

The first calls of the crash came around 15:17 EDT (20:17 GMT) and rescue boats were launched immediately, New York Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker said.

“Swimmers were in the water shortly after the call,” he said.

Once on the scene, rescuers searched the water for victims or survivors and initiated “immediate life-saving measures” but the efforts were unsuccessful.

Four victims were pronounced dead on scene, while two others were pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, officials said.

The part of the river where the helicopter crashed is near Manhattan’s west side, an area known for its trendy shops and dining. It’s also near the main campus of New York University.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the investigation into the crash of the Bell 206, a two-bladed helicopter, will be led by the National Transportation Safety Board.

In a social media post, President Trump said the crash was terrible and more details would soon be released into what happened.

“God bless the families and friends of the victims,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

The Bell 206 is commonly used by sightseeing companies, television new stations and police departments.

Michael Roth, the CEO of New York Helicopter Charter Inc, told CNN he was “devastated”.

“I’m a father, a grandfather and my wife hasn’t stopped crying since this afternoon,” he said. When asked about the maintenance of the helicopter, Mr Roth said, “It’s my director of maintenance who deals with that.”

Eyewitnesses who saw the crash told CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner, that they saw parts of the helicopter fall from the sky.

“I looked outside my window. I saw a few people running towards the water, and some people were acting pretty normal. So I was like oh, it might not be anything. Then I started to hear all the sirens come outside,” Jersey City resident Jenn Lynk said.

Another Jersey City resident, Ipsitaa Banigrhi, told CBS the crash sounded like thunder.

“I saw, like, black particles flying,” she said. “Again, I thought maybe it’s just like, dust, or birds, and then we heard all the emergency vehicles and sirens go by, and I think that’s when it was like, OK, what’s happening.”

This is not the first deadly tourist helicopter crash in New York City. In 2018, another tourist helicopter crashed into the East River and all five passengers drowned. Only the pilot survived.

In 2009, a helicopter carrying Italian tourists collided with a private plane over the Hudson River, killing nine.

(BBC News)

President Donald Trump announced a complete three-month pause on all the “reciprocal” tariffs that went into effect at midnight, with the exception of China, a stunning reversal from a president who had insisted historically high tariffs were here to stay.
But enormous tariffs will remain on China, the world’s second-largest economy. In fact, Trump said they will be increased to 125% from 104% after China announced additional retaliatory tariffs against the United States earlier Wednesday. All other countries that were subjected to reciprocal tariff rates Wednesday will see rates go back down to the universal 10% rate, he said.

“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately,” Trump said in his social media post. “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” he wrote.

Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Trump said, “Nothing’s over yet, but we have a tremendous amount of spirit from other countries, including China. China wants to make a deal, they just don’t know how quite to go about it.”

Mexico and Canada won’t face the 10% tariffs, a White House official told CNN. Almost every good coming from the two nations will continue to be tariffed at 25%, unless they are compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, in which case they won’t face tariffs. However, that does not apply to sector-specific tariffs Trump has imposed.

Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief, however, that Trump was backing down on other extreme trade measures. Stocks rallied sharply on the news – even though the 10% universal tariff on all imports coming into the United States remained in effect.

The Dow surged nearly 3,000 points or 7.87%, on Wednesday. The S&P 500 shot up 9.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 12.2%. This marked the best day for the S&P 500 since October 2008. The Nasdaq posted its best day since January 2001 and its second-best day on record. While the Dow posted its best day in five years.

This comes after markets have been getting slammed by the prospect of the significantly higher tariffs Trump laid out last week.

Hours before making the announcement, Trump said “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”

He concluded the post with “DJT,” potentially a nod to Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, which trades under the ticker “DJT.” At the time, the parent of Truth Social, DJT shares were down nearly 13% this month. After the announcement, shares were up over 20% for Wednesday alone.

Trump told reporters his decision to move forward with the pause was in part influenced by people “getting a little yippy yappy.”

“You have to have flexibility,” he added, a stark about-face from recent comments he and administration officials have made recently insisting Trump was not going to back off his promises.

(CNN)

China said on Wednesday that it will raise the tariff rate on all imported goods from the United States to 84 percent, and add 12 more US entities to the export control list.

Beijing’s latest countermeasures followed the US President Donald Trump’s decision to increase the “reciprocal tariffs” on Chinese goods to 84 percent, up from 34 percent.

The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, the country’s Cabinet, said in a statement on Wednesday that the US’ decision to escalate tariffs on Chinese goods is “a mistake upon a mistake”.

The US tariff hike, which severely infringes on China’s legitimate rights and interests, damages the rules-based multilateral trading system, and destabilizes the global economic order, is “a clear example of unilateralism, protectionism, and economic coercion”, the commission said.

On the same day, the Ministry of Commerce announced that it will place 12 US entities such as American Photonics and BRINC Drones on its export control management list, effectively prohibiting the export of dual-use items to these companies.

These US entities engage in activities that may endanger China’s national security and interests, the ministry said, stressing that no exporter may violate the aforementioned rules.

(chinadaily)