LONDON
One confirmed dead and the number is set to rise after a police helicopter crashed into the roof of a pub in Scotland's Glasgow province at 10:25 p.m. Friday night.
The Eurocopter EC135 T2 was carrying two police officers and one civilian pilot. 32 people were injured and have been taken to the Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Western Infirmary.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Constable Sir Stephen House confirmed that one person had died and 32 people had been taken to hospital.
When asked if there were people still trapped inside the pub he responded by saying that he could not say “definitively”. “The safety of those at the scene is of the utmost importance,” he added.
The police have said that a full investigation is underway being carried out by the police and the Air Accident Investigation Branch. Immediately after the incident local people tried to help those that had been injured. A human chain was formed to carry out those that were trapped inside the pub. At the time of the crash people had been listening to live music in the pub.
Gordon Smart, the editor of the Scottish Sun, told the BBC that he heard what sounded like a misfiring engine, before looking up and seeing the helicopter falling from the sky. He added, “There was no fire ball and I did not hear an explosion. It fell like a stone. The engine seemed to be spluttering."
Scottish first secretary, Alex Salmond called the incident a “black day for Glasgow and Scotland,” adding that it was a day “ that we can take great pride in how we have responded to this extraordinary tragedy.”
