One has been killed while a number of people are trapped after a police helicopter crashed into a pub in the Scottish city of Glasgow, emergency services said on Saturday.
The chopper smashed through the roof of the crowded Clutha Pub, where more than 100 revellers had been listening to a band on Friday night ahead of St Andrews Day, which celebrates Scotland’s patron saint.
Witnesses said the helicopter with two police officers and a civilian pilot onboard 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.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Stephen House said 32 people had been taken by ambulance to three Glasgow hospitals following the crash on Friday night.
“Sadly I can also confirm one fatality. We expect that number to increase over the coming hours,” he told reporters.
Firefighters said they had made “some contact” with an unknown number of people in the wreckage of the one-storey building, which was “very unstable”.
“It’s a case of working hard within the building to try and determine how many casualties are there,” Fire brigade officer Lewis Ramsay told reporters.
“We are determined that we are going to get the building stable and we will be in there to carry out those rescued.”
Ramsay said the 125 firefighters at the scene had “rescued numerous casualties” who had “multiple types of injuries”.
Ramsay said that rescuers “have had some contact” with people inside the building “and we’re working to make sure the building is safe to get people out”.
Thirty-two people have been sent to hospital after a police helicopter crashed into a crowded pub in Glasgow, police said in a statement on Saturday.
“Thirty-two people have been taken to hospitals across Glasgow following the incident on Friday night when a Police Scotland helicopter came down on the roof of a busy city centre pub,” police said in a statement.
A police helicopter crashed into a pub in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Friday and fatalities are likely, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond said.
“I can confirm that it is a police helicopter which has been involved in the tragic accident in Glasgow,” Salmond tweeted. “Rescue efforts in full operation. Given an incident of this scale we must all prepare ourselves for the likelihood of fatalities.”
“I can confirm there are a number of casualties but it is too early at this stage to provide further details,” said Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick.
He said emergency workers still were working to recover people from the pub. One emergency worker said he had been in contact with people trapped at the scene.
“That rescue operation is clearly ongoing,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fire brigade officer Lewis Ramsay told reporters that rescuers “fire crews have been in contact with people trapped within Clutha bar and have also rescued numerous casualties”.
He declined to give a number of casualties after the accident, in which the helicopter smashed into the roof of the packed pub on the banks of the River Clyde, but said there were “multiple types of injuries” among those who had been rescued.
Ramsay said they were “working to make sure the building is safe to get people out” and that the building was “very unsafe”.
Police officer Rose Fitzgerald said it was too early to say why the helicopter crashed.
“I can confirm there are a number of casualties but it is too early at this stage to provide further details. We will provide further updates at the appropriate time,” she said.
Witnesses said they saw the helicopter dropping like a stone from the sky, while people inside the pub heard a whooshing sound and then the roof caved in.
Police said there were two police officers and a civilian pilot on board the helicopter but did not give details of their condition.
