CALGARY (CBC) - The four people killed in Tuesday's helicopter crash in Cranbrook included the pilot, two BC Hydro workers, and the student son of a prominent Kenyan politician.

Friends have told CBC News that Isaiah Otieno, 23, a student at the College of the Rockies, was out for a walk and likely wearing stereo earbuds, so he may not have heard the falling helicopter.

He was hit by the Bell 206 helicopter as it came in low and was dragged for 10 to 15 metres before being trapped under it when it crashed. Witnesses told CBC News they tried to pull the young man from the wreckage but efforts to save him failed.

The other three people killed were pilot Edward William Kyle Heeb, 57, of Cranbrook, an employee of Cranbrook-based Bighorn Helicopters Inc., and BC Hydro workers Dirk Bentley Rozenboom, 45, and Robert William Lehmann, 37, officials said.

The bodies of the four victims were removed from the scene late Tuesday night. The coroner service supervised the removal and will likely verify the identities by using dental records.

Otieno is the son of a prominent Kenyan politician.

Witness reported the helicopter appeared to have had engine troubles just before the crash, but no official cause has been released.

Three investigators from the Transportation Safety Board arrived at the crash site Tuesday afternoon and were expected to continue their investigation Wednesday morning.

Witnesses have said the helicopter burned so badly during the crash that little remained of the fuselage except for sections of the tail rotor. The crash site was covered by a large tent later Tuesday afternoon.

The helicopter crashed in the middle of a street in a busy residential neighbourhood in Cranbrook, in the southeastern Interior of B.C., on Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses said the chopper was flying low before the crash at 1 p.m. MT when it suddenly came down near the corner of 10th Street and 14th Avenue.

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