Helicopter Crashes into Glasgow Pub, Fatalities Likely

November 29,2013

 

 

 

 

 

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An undated photo of the Clutha pub from Google maps streetview.

LONDON -- A helicopter crashed late Friday night into the roof of a popular pub in Glasgow, Scotland, leaving the building littered with debris and emergency crews scrambling to the scene.
There were reports that people may have been trapped inside, but they could not be immediately confirmed.
 Scotland's leader has warned that fatalities are likely after a police helicopter slammed late Friday night into the roof of a popular pub in Glasgow.
First Minister Alex Salmond confirmed that a police chopper was involved in the tragic accident, saying on Twitter that emergency services were in full operation Friday evening.
He says that given "an incident of this scale we must all prepare ourselves for the likelihood" of deaths.
Photos of the scene aired on local television show what appear to be the helicopter's propeller sticking out of the top of the pub's roof. Rescue workers swarmed the door of the pub and several fire trucks were on the scene.
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Scotland's Fire and Rescue Service said on Twitter it was on the scene of the crash but would not comment further "as very busy."
Gordon Smart, editor of the Scottish edition of the Sun newspaper, told Sky News he believed it was a police helicopter.
"There was no fireball and I did not hear an explosion," he said. "It fell like a stone. The engine seemed to be spluttering."
Labour party spokesman Jim Murphy told the BBC that "it's a horrible, horrible scene."
"I saw a pile of people clambering out of the pub in the dust. No smoke, no fire, just a huge amount of dust," he said.
He later told Sky News that people formed a human chain to help pass unconscious people out of the pub so that "inch by inch, we could get the people out."
Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "My thoughts are with everyone affected by the helicopter crash in Glasgow - and the emergency services working tonight."

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Firefighters walk pass the section of damaged crane on the ground after a helicopter crashed into the crane on top of a building in central London on Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013. Police say two people were killed when a helicopter crashed Wednesday during rush hour in central London after apparently hitting a construction crane on top of a