President Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday offered his condolences to those impacted by the aeroplane crash which occurred in the United States capital Washington DC in the early hours of the morning.

He described the incident as “heartbreaking” and “tragic” and offered his deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who died.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the US,” he said in a post on X, the social media platform better known as Twitter, also tagging the country’s President Donald Trump.

The crash occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning, with an American Airlines regional passenger jet with 64 people on board colliding with a US army Black Hawk helicopter, before falling into the Potomac river.

The BBC reported on Thursday afternoon that at least 19 bodies have been pulled from the river so far, with search and rescue teams having been working through the night in freezing temperatures.

Ronald Reagan Washington National airport is temporarily closed, with local authorities now having commenced their investigation into the incident.

The aeroplane, a Bombardier CRJ700, had departed from Wichita, in the US state of Kansas, for Washington DC, and was approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National airport when it collided with the helicopter.

The Pentagon said the helicopter had taken off from Fort Belvoir in the state of Virginia, while Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser said three US soldiers were on board.