A helicopter crashed and burst into flames in eastern Canada on Tuesday killing four people, authorities said.

The three passengers of the aircraft died at the moment of the impact and a fourth person who was passing by was caught under the burning fuselage and killed as well, according to Bill Yearwood, a spokesman for Canada's Transportation Safety Board.

The helicopter was flying over Cranbrook and after a few minutes it plummeted into the ground, said eye witness Elmer Bautz according to The Associated Press.

The eye witness said the pedestrian was walking on the street across from him when the helicopter crashed and hit him. The helicopter – a Bell 206 Jet Ranger – dragged the unlucky pedestrian with it for a couple of yards along the street in Cranbrook, 500 miles east of Vancouver.

"There was a pedestrian walking on the street across from me and he was just about at the back alley, and I don't think he even knew what hit him," Bautz said.

"It actually touched the pedestrian and I think that's when it decapitated (the pedestrian)."

As it skidded along the street, the burning fuselage left a trail of flames and wreckage behind it.

Investigators are currently trying to find out what caused the helicopter to crash.

The Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter had been hired by BC Hydro, a provincial power company. The pilot was taking two employees to a work site. After they crashed, several Cranbrook residents tried to pull the victims out of the burning wreckage and rescue them, but couldn’t save their lives.