Helicopter crash kills 3 in Illinois, US

CHICAGO - A pilot and two nurses were killed when a medical helicopter carrying them crashed Monday night en route to a hospital in the US state of Illinois, Chicago Tribune reported.

The helicopter, which was registered to Rockford Memorial Hospital, was on its way to pick up a patient when it crashed at about 8:30 p.m. local time near Rochelle, 70 miles west of Illinois's largest city Chicago.

The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into what caused the crash.

In October 2008, a medical helicopter crashed after striking a radio tower in Aurora, a city of northeast Illinois, killing three crew members and a one-year-old girl.