Four people have been killed and three are fighting for life after two helicopters collided near a Sea World theme park in Queensland.
One of the helicopters appeared to have been taking off and the other landing when they collided on Main Beach on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Witnesses described seeing the crash while standing in line for rides at the nearby theme park, with one of the helicopters “plummeting to the ground nose-first”.
One helicopter landed safely on a sandbank, but debris from the other was spread across an area police described as difficult to access. The four dead and the three most seriously injured people were all passengers in the crashed helicopter.
“Members of the public and police tried to remove the people, and they commenced first aid and tried to get those people to safety from an airframe that was upside down,” acting Inspector Gary Worrell of Queensland Police Service said at a news conference. “[People on] jetskis, family boaters, ordinary members of the public rushed to assist these people.”
Passengers in the other helicopter, which lost its windscreen in the crash, are also receiving medical assistance.
A witness named John told Melbourne radio station 3AW that patrons at Sea World had heard the crash. He said staff at the theme park had moved swiftly to close off the areas closest to the scene.
“There was a massive, massive bang,” he said. “It was just huge. I’m not sure if it was the propellers or whatever hitting against each other. But there was this poor lady and her son near the helipad in tears.”
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) chief commissioner Angus Mitchell confirmed that an investigation into the cause of the crash was under way.
“Transport safety investigators with experience in helicopter operations, maintenance and survivability engineering are deploying from the ATSB’s Brisbane and Canberra offices and are expected to begin arriving at the accident site from Monday afternoon,” he said in a statement.
“During the evidence-gathering phase of the investigation, ATSB investigators will examine the wreckage and map the accident site.”
Queensland Ambulance Service said earlier that 13 people were being assessed for injuries. The three people critically injured were said to be suffering from “multi-system trauma”, while six people with minor injuries – mainly from the impact of the glass – were also taken to hospital.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the accident was an “unthinkable tragedy”. “My deepest sympathies are with each of the families and everyone affected by this terrible accident,” she said.
The Gold Coast region is at its busiest in January, the peak time for summer holidays in Australia.
