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Police said the helicopter appeared to have hit the crane on top of the building, in the St George’s Wharf development in Vauxhall, at around 08:00 GMT this morning.
The London Ambulance Service said two people died at the scene and a further six people had been taken to hospital, five with minor injuries and one with a broken leg.
Seven other people were treated for minor injuries at the crash site.
Police have said there was only one person in the helicopter and that the other fatality was in the proximity of where the helicopter came down.
One of the casualties who was injured on the ground is believed to be in a critical condition.
The crash happened during the morning rush hour on one of the main thoroughfares from south west London’s trendy residential areas towards Waterloo and London Bridge stations.
The area around the building has been evacuated due to the precarious position of the crane.
Police confirmed that there was no one working in the crane at the time of the incident.
A man rescued from a burning car by firefighters is believed to be one of three people taken to St Thomas’s Hospital by London Ambulance Service crews.
Eight fire engines, four fire rescue units and up to 60 firefighters attended the chaotic crash site near Wandsworth Road in South Lambeth, and the blaze was put out in around twenty minutes.
Emergency services had been searching the river for casualties, but the search has since been stood down.
Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, said the helicopter had been diverted to to Battersea helipad.
There was reportedly thick fog in the area at around the time of the incident.
Aviation fuel and burning wreckage covered the road as witnesses reported seeing cars on fire and hearing people screaming.
Sharon Moore, 39, was talking to a neighbour outside her flat when she heard the rotor blades of a helicopter. She looked up and saw a chopper careering wildly.
“The scene was so surreal, it was like something out of a movie,” she told The Independent. “The helicopter was out of control.
The noise made us look up and I thought ‘Oh my God’. It was swerving and then we heard a loud bang as the helicopter hit the building.
Then it just went boom, there was flame and smoke everywhere. It smashed down onto a car and all the smoke rushed towards us. I couldn’t tell what kind of car or what colour because it was incinerated.”
Unconfirmed reports claim the helicopter was flying across London from Gatwick to Elstree.
Scotland Yard said: “Two people have been confirmed dead at the scene. We have no further details. Two have been taken to south London hospital. We await a condition update.
“We will confirm further details on the incident as soon as possible.”
Four people at the scene were treated for shock.
Local resident Abi Manar, who lives on Walton Close, said he heard the sound of rotor blades shortly before a loud bang. “I was just taking the rubbish out and you heard the helicopter before the bang. The smoke was unbelievable and it made you cough. It was completely dark, like a bomb had gone off.”
London Fire Brigade confirmed that the crane at the St George’s Wharf development appeared to have been left “in a precarious position”.
Video footage shot on a mobile phone showed an entire road blocked by burning wreckage and aviation fuel.
The side of a building on one side of the street was also damaged by the flames.
John Geragaty, who runs Vauxhall Griffin pub on Wyvil Road, said that the damage could have been much worse had the accident taken place an hour later. “The traffic on that road at 9am is completely backed up. What happened is awful but my gut instinct is it could have been evven worse if it had hit the road at that time or crashed into nearby flats.”
Helicopters in London usually follow the route of the Thames, in order that they can ditch into the river if they get in trouble, from the position of the crash it would appear the helicopter was following the river route, known as the H4, though it is unclear why the vehicle was flying so low.
The Metropolitan Police said there are a number of road closures in place.
These include:
= Vauxhall Bridge Road southbound
= Wandsworth Road (partially)
= Nine Elms Lane (partially)
= South Lambeth Road (partially)
The closures are subject to change and the public are advised to avoid the area.
London’s Counter Terrorism Command has confirmed there is ‘nothing to suggest any terrorism link’ at this stage.
David Cameron’s official spokesman said: “Clearly the prime minister is very saddened to learn of the fatalities and injuries in this accident.”
An eyewitness to the crash described hearing an explosion like a thunderclap as he walked to work and looked up to the rotor-less helicopter plunging to the ground “like a rocket”.
A spokesman for London Mayor Boris Johnson said: “This is clearly a major incident involving considerable numbers of emergency service personnel.
“The Mayor’s thoughts are with the families of the two victims and with those injured.
“The Mayor has spoken with Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan Howe and Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy.
“He remains in close touch with all his Commissioners and he will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Eyewitness: ‘There was an explosion directly overhead, like a thunderclap’
Ben Slinger, 28, a warehouse supervisor, had emerged from Vauxhall Tube station shortly before 8am and was walking beneath St George’s Wharf Tower when he heard the collision.
He told The Independent: “I was walking to work and there was an explosion directly overhead, like a thunderclap. I looked up. There was thick cloud and out of the cloud there suddenly came this rotor-less helicopter.
“It was strange, the body of the aircraft seemed perfectly intact – it just had the rotors missing. It was not in a film where a helicopter spins to the ground, it plunged in a straight line to the ground like a rocket.
“I went straight into the road. It was difficult to see what it hit but there were clearly cars on the road. It went up in an enormous fireball. I could feel the heat from the fire on my face.
“You couldn’t see people running away or the injured. People were just a bit stunned at first- obviously it’s not something you expect. Then they started moving away because it was clearly dangerous. I called 999 and said “just police, fire, ambulance, send everything”.
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Source:
http://www.ezonearticle.com/2013/01/16/two-dead-and-at-least-nine-injured-after-helicopter-crashes-into-building-in-london/
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