Death toll from Glasgow chopper crash climbs to 8
Print Edition
Eight people have been killed in the police helicopter crash at a crowded Glasgow pub, police said yesterday, with 14 others were seriously injured in hospital.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Stephen House said the two officers and the civilian pilot aboard the police helicopter and five people inside The Clutha bar were all killed by the accident which happened late on Friday.
“Fourteen people remain seriously injured in Glasgow hospitals,” he told reporters late in the day yesterday.
Rescuers battled to find survivors.
The chopper smashed into the roof of The Clutha pub, where more than 100 revellers had packed in to watch a band play on Friday night ahead of St Andrew’s Day, Scotland’s national day celebrating its patron saint.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond called it a “black day” for the nation as emergency service workers tried to make the one-storey building secure enough to permit full access to the scene.
Early yesterday, police said 32 people had been taken by ambulance to three hospitals across Scotland’s biggest city after the helicopter plunged into the city center bar at 10:25pm local time.
“We expect that number to increase over the coming hours,” House said earlier in the day.
“Given the damage caused and the nature of the damage, it will take some time to complete the search of the building,” he said.
Witnesses said the helicopter, with two police officers and a civilian pilot on board, dropped like a stone, while people inside the pub heard a whoosh before the roof caved in and the air filled with dust and screams. Emergency services worked through the night in a bid to recover people from the wreckage.
An AFP photographer at the scene said the helicopter appeared to have smashed through the top of the bar, with a rotor blade sticking out of the roof.
The site by the banks of the River Clyde had been cordoned off, with emergency service workers visible on the roof.
A tarpaulin had been placed over the area where the helicopter hit.
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