2 die in Utah helicopter crash

(CNN) — Two people died in a helicopter crash Friday in a mountainous area of north-central Utah, authorities said.

The helicopter went down north of Alpine, a community about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said.

Both people aboard were killed; their names were not immediately released.

Authorities began searching Friday afternoon after a relative of someone aboard reported the helicopter overdue. It had taken off from eastern Utah’s Uintah County, the sheriff’s office said.

Searchers found the wreckage shortly before 6:30 p.m. MT, the sheriff’s office said.

“We don’t know what happened there,” Sgt. Spencer Cannon told CNN affiliate KTVX. “There was some heavy weather in this area earlier today. Whether that played a role in the crash today, we don’t know.”

An airport roughly 35 miles east of Alpine reported light rain over parts of Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

The sheriff’s office and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident, the Utah Department of Public Safety said.