Kobe Bryant: Basketball legend and daughter die in helicopter crash


  • English
  • Arabic

Basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, 13, were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on Sunday morning.

Seven other people died in the crash, in which no one survived.

A teammate from Gianna's basketball team, a parent of the teammate and the pilot were also killed, NBC News reported.

"It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of Kobe Bryant and others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas," the city said on Twitter.

"The aircraft went down in a remote field off Las Virgenes around 10.00 this morning. Nobody on the ground was hurt."

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said: "There were no survivors. We have a manifest that indicates there were nine people on board the aircraft, the pilot plus eight individuals."

Mr Villanueva declined to identify any victims.

The NBA star, 41, was in the private helicopter when it went down and a fire broke out, TMZ earlier reported.

It said one of the people Bryant was travelling with in his private helicopter was his daughter Gianna.

Sources said that the helicopter was on the way to the basketball player's Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, California.

Bryant often used the helicopter to travel to and from games when he was playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The US Federal Aviation Administration identified the crashed helicopter as a Sikorsky S-76, and said it and the National Transport Safety Board would investigate.

Bryant is considered a legend in the NBA, making 18 All-Star teams during his 20-year career with the Lakers. He retired from the game in 2016.

The Philadelphia native was the first guard in NBA history to play 20 seasons and has won five NBA championships.

Bryant was the third leading scorer in NBA league history, with 33,643 points, until LeBron James passed him on Saturday.

Bryant congratulated James in what would be his final tweet.

However, the sheen of Bryant's stardom was tainted by a number of controversies including a major rape allegation that damaged his image. In 2003, he was arrested in Colorado over a sexual assault allegation filed by a 19-year-old employee of a hotel where Bryant was staying ahead of knee surgery.

Bryant was accused of rape. He admitted to adultery. In 2004, the case was dropped after the accuser refused to testify in a trial, and Bryant issued an apology saying he could understand how she might feel there was not consent. A separate civil suit was settled under terms that were kept private.

In 2011, Bryant made an apology for using a gay slur to describe a referee and paid a $100,000 fine imposed by the NBA.

Bryant also had a foray in the film industry, winning an Oscar for best short animated film in 2018 for Dear Basketball, a five-minute movie based on a love letter he wrote to the sport in 2015.

Tributes pour in for Kobe

Tributes flooded social media after the news shocked people inside and outside the NBA world.

US President Donald Trump said Bryant was one of the truly great basketball players of all time, who was just getting started.

Former President Barack Obama said Kobe was a legend on the court and said also losing a daughter was even more hearthbreaking.

Bryant's basketball contemporaries and franchises also paid tribute.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sent condolences to Bryant's wife, Vanessa.

"He was one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game with accomplishments that are legendary," Mr Silver said.

The Toronto Raptors paused their game for 24 seconds.

Dirk Nowitski, the German former Dallas Mavericks star, posted:

Washington Wizards' Bradley Beal said Kobe "was our Michael Jordan'.

Vince Carter played against Bryant during his 18-year career. He describes his on-court battles:

Doc Rivers, head coach of Bryant's city rivals the LA Clippers:

"Please no. Please god no. It can't be true," Cleveland Cavaliers player Kevin Lowe wrote on Twitter.

Actress Reese Witherspoon said: "Just devastated to hear about Kobe Bryant.

"An extraordinary athlete and a genuinely kind, wonderful man. Sending love, prayers and compassion to his family. To his entire NBA family as well."

US women's footballer and World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe said: "Kobe, you were a true inspiration to me as an athlete.

"I always admired your professionalism, drive and dedication. Our thoughts are with your loved ones. RIP."

The Grammy Awards pre-telecast ceremony opened with a moment of silence for Bryant.

Bryant and his wife of 19 years, Vanessa, had four daughters: Gianna, Natalia, Bianca and Capri, who was born in June last year.

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

Sinopharm vaccine explained

The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades. 

“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.

"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."

This is then injected into the body.

"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.

"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."

The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.

Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.

“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.

Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
  • US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
  • Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
  • Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
  • Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
  • Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
  • The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
  • Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
  • Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
%20Ramez%20Gab%20Min%20El%20Akher
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMBC%20Shahid%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A