Helicopter crash kills two people, shuts Mississippi River, Coast Guard says

The crash happened on the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois. File picture: Scott Olson/Getty

A helicopter crashed into a barge on the Mississippi River on Thursday, killing two people who were on the helicopter and closing the river to traffic near Alton, Illinois, a US Coast Guard spokesperson said.

The river shut from mile marker 199 to mile marker 201, spokesperson Jonathan Lindberg said.