American musician Oliver Tree killed in mid-air helicopter collision in Brazil ⁰

American alt-pop singer and internet personality Oliver Tree was aboard one of the two helicopters that collided mid-air in Brazil, leaving six dead, a police source said.

The alternative singer and internet personality was listed as one of six people on the manifest of one aircraft shared by the source, who said the victims could not be formally identified yet as they were badly burned in the crash.

The helicopters collided mid-air on Sunday morning in the western suburb of Rio de Janeiro called Recreio dos Bandeirantes before plummeting into the parking lot of an electric car dealership, setting ablaze around 20 cars, firefighters said.

One of the helicopters was carrying five people, and the other only the pilot. There were no survivors.

The passengers on the same helicopter as Tree included a Brazilian music producer, Argentine video director and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known online as “Gaspi”.

The 32-year-old Tree – with a distinctive bowl haircut and eccentric, meme-worthy internet persona – was known for hits such as “Life Goes On”, “Miss You”, and “Alien Boy”.

He has over 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with his top songs listened to over 700 million times.

In recent days his Instagram account featured videos of him in Brazil, where he performed in Sao Paulo on June 6 on his tour of over 30 countries.

His next show was due in Lisbon on July 1.

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said earlier that there were “foreign nationals on board one of the aircraft”, without giving further details.

Source: France 24