Member Since: 2/18/2012
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Eight dead in helicopter accident in Glasgow.
Update: Eight dead, fourteen injured.
Quote:
Eight people are now known to have died after a police helicopter crashed into a pub in Glasgow last night.
The three occupants of the aircraft - two police officers and a civilian pilot - were among those killed, Police Scotland said.
Five other people lost their lives in the Clutha bar after the helicopter came through the roof of the lively city nightspot.
The pub had been packed with more than 100 people watching a band when the crash happened at 10.25pm.
Police say a rescue and recovery operation is continuing at the premises - suggesting people may still be trapped in the building.
Fourteen people remain seriously injured in hospitals in Glasgow.
A major investigation is under way by police along with the Air Accident Investigation Branch.
Rescue teams worked through the night to try to pull people from the wreckage of the pub.
A tent was erected on top of the pub on Saturday morning over the remains of the aircraft, whose rotor could be seen protruding from the roof.
Meanwhile, the Queen has said her thoughts and prayers were with the victims of the crash.
Eyewitnesses have described the helicopter "falling like a stone" on to the roof, while some have suggested that there was a problem with the aircraft's rotor.
Grace MacLean, who was inside the pub when the helicopter struck, told Sky News: "Someone started shouting and the band cut the music ... and then all of a sudden this cloud of dust came.
"You couldn't breathe for inhaling a mouthful of dust. You couldn't see anything. You were clawing at the walls to see where the exit is."
William Byrne, who was listening to the band with his brother, said: "There was a huge bang and there was a couple of seconds of almost stillness after this band and then the whole other side of the pub from where I was collapsed and then the roof and gantry of the bar collapsed."
One worried relative at the scene of the crash, Alice Healy, told Sky News how she had not heard from her cousin who had been inside the pub when the aircraft hit.
Another, John McGarrigle, 38, said that he had been told by someone inside the pub that his 59-year-old father, also called John, had been sitting at precisely the spot the aircraft had come down and that he had been killed but that authorities had not been able to confirm this.
First Minister Alex Salmond said: "This is a black day for Glasgow and Scotland but it's also St Andrew's Day and it's a day we can take pride and courage in how we respond to adversity and tragedy."
He praised the "instinctive bravery of ordinary Glaswegians" who went to the rescue of those trapped inside the pub and the emergency services.
Footage showed confusion outside the pub in the moments after the helicopter hit the roof and those inside the building told how it was 15 minutes before they knew what had happened.
Among the helpers was Labour's international development spokesman Jim Murphy, who told Sky News: "I just saw dozens and dozens of people coming out of the pub. It is a horrible, horrible scene."
Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband were among the politicians saying their thoughts were with the victims' relatives.
The helicopter, a EC135 T2, which is widely used by the police, has a good safety record, with one incident in 2007 after which the AAIB asked manufacturers Eurocopter to look at a stability system switch.
Members of the public concerned about relatives who may have been involved in the crash can call an emergency helpline on 0800 092 0410.
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http://news.sky.com/story/1175912/he...-pub-eight-die
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