World / Unthinkable day: Barack Obama after Kobe Bryant, daughter killed in crash

Ex-US President Barack Obama condoled the demise of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant, who were killed in a helicopter crash. Calling it an "unthinkable day", Obama tweeted, "Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would've been just as meaningful a second act. To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking."

NDTV : Jan 27, 2020, 10:28 AM
Washington: Former US president Barack Obama remembered Kobe Bryant Sunday as one of the NBA's great players.

"Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act," Obama tweeted after it was confirmed Bryant was among five people killed in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles.

Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna was also among the five fatalities in the helicopter crash which claimed the life of the NBA icon, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti confirmed on Sunday.

"L.A. is grieving with the Bryant family over the loss of Gianna, who perished with her father and friends in today's tragedy," Garcetti wrote on Twitter. 

Bryant and Gianna had been flying to a game his daughter was expected to play in when their helicopter crashed, according to US reports.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials said there were no survivors from the morning crash on a rugged hillside in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles.

The helicopter was described as a Sikorsky S-76, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.