Shawdesh desk:

A pilot and passenger are presumed dead after the crash Friday of a helicopter in a south Louisiana marsh in US, a local government official said.

The sheriff’s office in coastal Lafourche Parish got a call from a witness who saw the aircraft going down about 10:15 am in south Louisiana wetlands. The wreckage was found in a marshy area about 2:45 pm, parish President Archie Chaisson told reporters.

The bodies had not been found as of Friday afternoon, according to the official.

Representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were traveling to the area to investigate.

Separately, the US Coast Guard said in a statement that its New Orleans sector coordinated the dispatch of an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, as well as a special-purpose shallow water boat to assist at the site.

There was no immediate statement from the leasing company.