Update: Death toll in fatal helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant rises to 9.

My heart goes out to Vanessa Bryant and the entire Bryant family as this tragedy as somehow just become so much worse. 

Earlier today we reported on a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The crash was believed to have involved National Basketball Association superstar Kobe Bryant and as many as 4 other people and we would eventually receive confirmation that Bryant had in fact been killed in the fatal crash. Unsurprisingly the news rocked the basketball world as Bryant was not only one of the game's greatest players of all time, but a professional athlete and icon that transcended the boundaries of his sport and became a mainstream figure in popular culture. Unfortunately as it turns out things are considerably worse than was originally reported.

We would go on to learn that not only was Bryant himself killed in the crash but also that Bryant's 13 year old daughter Gianna Bryant was on board the helicopter at the time of the crash. We of course now know that no one survived the fatal crash which means that Gianna was also taken from this world today. Gianna was a rising basketball star in her own right but unfortunately she will never get the chance to realize her true potential now that her life has been taken far, far, too soon. I can not imagine the grief that Vanessa Bryant must be experiencing at this time, especially not when you consider that the family welcomed their youngest child, Capri, into the world just 7 months ago at the time of this writing. 

Sadly things get even worse from here as the death toll has now nearly doubled from 5 to 9. It is unclear why the original reports were so far off but it may simply due to the fact that both the crash and the subsequent fire made it difficult to identify how many people had been on board the helicopter at the time of the accident. According to comments made by the La County Sheriff's Department a flight manifest has been recovered and reportedly lists the name of 9 people, 8 passengers as well as the pilot, all of whom the La County Sheriff's Department believed are deceased. It sounds like Bryant and his daughter were on their way to a kids basketball camp, and there are now unconfirmed reports that there may have been other young children and their parents on board this helicopter at the time of the crash. 

My thoughts go out to the Bryant family, but even more so to all the victims and heartbroken families that were not in the celebrity spotlight but also suffered a tremendous loss today.