Two people died Thursday after a helicopter crashed into a barge on the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois, shutting the waterway to traffic in USA.

Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, preliminary information from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) indicated the MD 369 helicopter struck power lines before crashing.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed two people were aboard at the time of the crash. The NTSB will lead the investigation, with an investigator expected to arrive on site Friday.

No one was aboard the barge, which caught fire after the crash, Coast Guard spokesperson Jonathan Lindberg said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze.