Recordings of emergency 911 calls from the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant have been released.
The basketball legend was travelling in his private helicopter when it crashed in the hills of Calabasas in California on January 26.
He died alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria and seven others in the crash and a probe is now underway to determine the cause.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department received a total of five calls, during which witnesses gave directions on how to reach the scene of the crash.
Callers reported hearing the crash or seeing flames and smoke.
"I just heard a helicopter go over me," one caller told the dispatcher, according to the audio obtained by ABC 15 Arizona.
"We couldn't see it and then we just heard a boom and a dead sound. Then I can see the flames."
Another man saw the helicopter disappear from the sky, saying: "It went over my head, it is thick in the clouds and then I heard a pop and it immediately stopped."
The calls were released as authorities began to dismantle a massive fan-generated memorial to Bryant across the street from Staples Center in Los Angeles.
