Two people have died and nine people have been injured after a helicopter crashed in Vauxhall, central London, when it hit a crane on top of a newly-built tower block.
Eyewitnesses have been giving their account of the incident, which took place during the morning rush hour.
‘There was a flash and the helicopter plunged to the ground. It exploded and you can imagine the smoke coming out of it.
‘It may be that on this misty morning the lights on nearby St George Tower weren’t on and it moved and clipped the edge of the crane and lost control.’
– Paul Ferguson, who was working in an office near the scene of the crash (BBC News)
‘There was some damage to the crane. The top of the nearest building is steeped in mist and difficult to see.
‘I heard a very unusual dull thud, then there was silence.’
– Chris Matthison (BBC News)
‘My daughter was so traumatised, it was so shocking. It sounded like a massive explosion, like something whining in the sky and then it just went bang.
‘You couldn’t see a lot at first because of the fog. The helicopter did not seem to know which way to turn and then it just dropped, it sliced, screeching into the metal.
‘It sliced it as if it was a piece of paper. It just ripped apart.
‘I called the police and they got there in seconds. We could then see them trying to pull people out of the cars.
‘We saw someone pulled out and they were covered.
‘We saw the helicopter falling out of the sky, loads of smoke as it landed.
‘It went bang. Another car went bang. There was lots of smoke and debris.’
– Mother-of-five Sharon Moore, 36, who was dropping off her nine-year-old daughter Tiah at school
‘It burst into flames, which spread to adjacent buildings.
‘I could see smoke from a mile away. There was absolute chaos. The helicopter was still alight, part of the rotor blade was on the roof of nearby buildings.
‘The fire was brought under control within 20 minutes. We were aware that the helicopter could have had a full tank of fuel, but we just used water.’
– London Fire Brigade station officer Bruce Grain
‘We heard a mighty bang, looked up and saw the helicopter just catch the edge of the crane.
‘It didn’t hit the tower block itself, it hit the crane and then just came down in a fireball.
‘We ran round the corner. There was a great big lot of black smoke everywhere and there was a couple of cars.
‘We heard someone was actually trapped in the car. We went to run towards the car and there was just a large explosion again.
‘It was quite devastating to watch, I’m afraid. It was very, very sad to watch.’
– Steve Carslake (BBC Radio Five Live)
‘I was facing the building when it happened and I heard a loud bang.
‘The top of the crane was actually obscured by fog so I didn’t see the impact. But I heard a bang and saw the body of the helicopter falling to the ground along with pieces of the crane and then a large plume of smoke afterwards.’
– Michael Gavin
‘I heard a loud bang, I looked up and saw bits of propeller and parts of the aircraft falling off it and then plummeting down. Then a plume of smoke went up.
‘I called the emergency services. It happened in a matter of seconds before it was on the ground. I thought “Wait a minute, has this thing been shot out of the sky or what?”.
‘I could see the top of the crane was shaking on the top of the building. It was very foggy so the helicopter probably couldn’t see it.’
– Mark Louis Sidney, who was walking to Vauxhall station (Sky News)
‘It was a bit surreal actually. I just had a coffee in my hand, I looked up, heard a bang and saw bits of crane debris falling to the floor.
‘Then the helicopter was in flames. The rest of the people at the bus station were looking on going “What was that?”.
‘It’s something I will never forget for a long time.’
– Erin Rogers, who was at nearby Vauxhall bus station
‘You’re always worried about things like 9/11 and things like that. I have three small children with me in the flat. It’s one of your fears that something like this can happen.
‘When I heard the explosion – it was like a little earthquake.’
– Sarah-Beth Casey, a local resident (Sky News)
‘I was coming across [Battersea Bridge] and basically I could see a few cyclists on the bridge looking towards the water.
‘I looked over to see what they were looking at and could see a pall of grey smoke coming from the south side.
‘You could see a large plume of dark grey smoke.’
– Sherna Noah, a commuter