Four dead and several injured after two helicopters collide on Australia's Gold Coast - CNN

CNN  — 

A midair collision betwixt 2 helicopters successful Australia has near 4 radical dormant and 3 others successful captious condition, authorities said Monday.

The collision happened astir 2 p.m. section clip adjacent the fashionable tourer portion of Main Beach connected the Gold Coast, southbound of Brisbane.

“Those 2 aircraft, erstwhile collided, person clang landed connected the soil slope conscionable retired from Sea World Resort,” Queensland Police Inspector Gary Worrell, a determination work serviceman for the southeastern region, told reporters.

He added it had been hard for exigency services to entree the soil bank, located not acold from the coast.

Thirteen radical were connected the 2 helicopters, according to Jayney Shearman, from the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS). Of those, 4 radical died, 3 suffered superior injuries and six had insignificant injuries, including cuts from shattered glass.

All the injured had been taken to hospital, she said.

Photos from the tract amusement debris lying connected a portion of sand, with unit gathered connected onshore and galore vessels successful the surrounding waters.

Worrell said that though it’s excessively aboriginal to find the nonstop origin of the accident, archetypal inquiries suggests 1 chopper had been taking disconnected and the different landing erstwhile they collided.

One chopper “has its windscreen removed, and it’s landed safely connected the island. The different (helicopter) has crashed, and it was upside down,” helium said.

He added that aft the crash, adjacent constabulary and members of the nationalist rushed to the site, trying to region and execute archetypal assistance connected those wrong the helicopter.

Angus Mitchell, Chief Commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), said successful a connection that an probe had been launched into the collision.

Investigators from the ATSB’s offices successful Brisbane and Canberra volition beryllium deployed to the country to stitchery evidence, analyse the wreckage and representation the site, arsenic good arsenic interrogation witnesses and progressive parties, Mitchell added.

He asked radical who witnessed the collision oregon saw the helicopters successful formation to interaction investigators. A preliminary study volition travel successful the adjacent six to 8 weeks, with a last study aft the probe is complete, helium said.

In a connection posted connected Twitter, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk expressed her “deepest sympathies” for the victims’ families and everybody affected. “What has happened connected the Gold Coast contiguous is an unthinkable tragedy,” she said.

Police accidental Sea World Drive has been closed to postulation and urged motorists and pedestrians to debar the area.

Sea World Drive is the main entree constituent for the marine parkland that’s fashionable with tourists connected the bosom of the Gold Coast. It’s highest tourer play successful the portion close now, with schools closed for the agelong summertime break.

CNN has reached retired to Sea World for comment.

This is simply a processing story.