Police say two people were killed when a helicopter crashed during rush hour in central London after apparently hitting a construction crane on top of a building.

The helicopter crashed just south of the River Thames near the Underground and mainline train station at Vauxhall, and the British spy agency MI6.

Video showed wreckage burning in a street, and a large plume of black smoke rose in the area. The video from the crash scene showed a line of flaming fuel and debris.

London Fire Brigade said it was called at 8 a.m. to a report of a crash on Wandsworth Road on the south bank of the Thames.

``There was a flash and the helicopter plunged to the ground. It exploded and you can imagine the smoke coming out of it,'' Paul Ferguson, an office worker near the scene, told BBC News. Erin Rogers, who was waiting a bus stop near Vauxhall Station, said she ``heard a bang and saw bits of crane debris falling to the floor.''

Early reports indicated the crane was at St. George's Wharf, a high rise apartment complex with apartments that offer sweeping river and city views.

(The Associated Press)