LOS ANGELES: Medical examiners have identified the body of NBA legend Kobe Bryant after recovering the remains of all nine people who died in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles.
According to Los Angeles officials, the of body Bryant was officially identified along with three others using fingerprints, two days after their helicopter crashed.
Federal investigators finished their inspection of the crash site, handing it over to local officials. Footages showed investigators earlier flying drones over the accident site and manually combing through twisted, charred wreckage of the helicopter.
Earlier the coroner’s office confirmed all nine bodies have been retrieved from the site and transported to the department’s forensic science center for postmortem. The bodies of pilot Ara Zobayan, baseball coach John Altobelli and Sarah Chester have also been identified.
The remaining five including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna have not yet been officially identified yet. The death of Bryant — a five-time NBA champion for the LA Lakers and double Olympic gold medalist — has shocked the world, with tributes continuing to pour in Tuesday.
Bryant, 41, was traveling with daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when the Sikorsky S-76 slammed into a hillside in thick fog in Calabasas, northwest of LA. They were flying to Bryant’s Mamba sports academy in Thousand Oaks, where his daughter was set to play.
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