2 dead in S China helicopter crash

Two people died in a helicopter crash in south China's Guangdong province on Monday afternoon, local police said.

The crash happened at about 4 p.m. on open ground in Dagang Township, Nansha District of the provincial capital city of Guangzhou, the municipal public security bureau posted on Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like microblogging platform.

The two people aboard the helicopter, a 37-year-old male pilot surnamed Pan and a 25-year-old female trainee pilot surnamed Xi, died instantly, according to a police update.

They were engaged in a training course at the time of the accident. The helicopter belonged to a general aviation company based in Guangzhou, it said.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.