Eight now confirmed dead after police helicopter crashes into pub

Eight people have been killed after a police helicopter crashed into a packed pub in Scotland.

The accident happened as a band was playing at 10.25pm yesterday with witnesses saying the aircraft 'dropped like a stone'.

Dozens of others have been injured and 32 are being treated at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Three people were on board the helicopter, a civilain pilot and two police officers, when it hit The Clutha on Stockwell Street, which faces the river Clyde.

Claire Morris, who lives near the bar, told BBC News: 'We heard this bang. We didn't really know what had happened and then we heard people coming out and screaming.

"I wasn't sure whether there had been an explosion. My daughter said to me it was a helicopter that had hit the roof.
"Police are everywhere. We are just very shaken."

The band who were playing, Esperanza, posted on Facebook that the musicians were all safe and well, but that they did not know the extent of others' injuries.

Grace McClean, who was inside the pub at the time of the crash, told the BBC: 'There was a ska band on in the pub at the back. It was fairly busy, we were having a nice time

"There was a woosh noise and then there was a bang. There was what seemed like smoke, but the band carried on playing.

"The whole pub just filled with dust, you couldn't see anything and you couldn't breathe. We managed to get outside, we found our friends, people were coming out in blood."

Gordon Smart, a newspaper editor, told Sky News: "I was in a car park and looked up and saw a helicopter which I think was a police helicopter.

'It was just such a surreal moment. It looked like it was dropping from a great height at a great speed.

"There was no fire ball and I did not hear an explosion. It fell like a stone. The engine seemed to be spluttering."

Images of the crash showed the wreckage of a dark blue helicopter with a yellow "POLICE" insignia lying on the roof of the pub.

Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick said: "At 22.25 on Friday evening, the Police Scotland helicopter - a Eurocopter EC135 T2 - came down on the roof of the Clutha Vaults pub in Stockwell Street, Glasgow.

"There were three people on board - two police officers and a civilian pilot. There were a number of customers inside the bar at the time."

She said the rescue operation was ongoing and it was too early to provide any details around why the helicopter came down.

"I can confirm there are a number of casualties but it is too early at this stage to provide further details," Deputy Chief Constable Fitzpatrick said.

Helicopter operator Bond Air Services said it was working with the police and emergency services.

Jim Murphy, the Labour MP for East Renfrewshire, was in the area at the time of the crash and said he ran into the pub to help before the emergency services arrived on the scene.

He told the BBC: "I was just a few yards away and I arrived on the scene outside the pub a few seconds after the impact. No-one knew what it was but you saw the pandemonium of the people trying to get out of the pub.

"It was almost like slow motion. Like other people you just do what you can to help."

Mr Murphy, who is the shadow international development minister, said it was a "horrific scene".

He added: "As you stood there you could see the helicopter embedded in the roof and sticking out the top of the roof and you knew it was something really serious."

The Air Accident InvestigationBranch has launched an inquiry.

First Minister Alex Salmond tweeted: "The emergency services are in full operation. Our thoughts are with everyone involved. Scottish resilience operation now mobilised."

Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "My thoughts are with everyone affected by the helicopter crash in Glasgow - and the emergency services working tonight."

Devon Air Ambulance tweeted: "Thinking of and sending our thoughts to Police Scotland and our emergency services colleagues in Glasgow."