A helicopter exploded mid-air after making contact with power lines above the Mississippi River on Thursday. These are the victims.

Two workers died when their helicopter struck power lines and crashed into a barge on the Mississippi River near East Alton, Illinois, sparking a fire and halting river traffic as investigators probe the cause.

The Mississippi River has reopened to vessel traffic north of St. Louis after closing because a helicopter crashed into a barge on Thursday, killing two people, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Friday. The interior U.