On Tuesday, the Royal Malaysian Navy announced the tragic deaths of ten individuals as two helicopters collided during a rehearsal for a naval parade. The incident occurred at 9:32 a.m. local time (0132 GMT) at the Lumut naval base in Perak, Malaysia. All victims were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to the Lumut army base hospital for identification.
BREAKING: 🇲🇾 2 military helicopters crash after mid-air collision in Malaysia, killing all 10 people on board pic.twitter.com/ckiEaqnd4R
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) April 23, 2024
The collision occurred during a rehearsal for a Royal Malaysian Navy parade. Videos on social media captured the moment of the collision at the Lumut Naval Base.
The Navy confirmed the death of all 10 crew members aboard the aircraft involved in the accident.
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The viral footage of the clash and subsequent crash depicted one helicopter clipping the rotor of another, resulting in the accident. One helicopter crashed onto a running track, and the other into a nearby swimming pool.
The Perak fire and rescue department confirmed to the Malaysian Free Press that 10 people died in the Lumut, Perak crash.
“The department was alerted to an emergency call at 9:50 a.m. regarding a helicopter incident at the Lumut Royal Malaysian Navy stadium in Manjung, Perak,” the department stated. They mentioned that efforts are ongoing to retrieve the bodies of the deceased.
The Royal Malaysian Navy also released a statement, mentioning that two helicopters, identified as models HOM (M503-3) and Fennec (M502-6), collided and crashed at 9:32 a.m. local time. They stated that the helicopters were rehearsing for the Navy’s 90th-anniversary event scheduled from May 3-5.
They further stated that the HOM (M503-3) helicopter was carrying seven people, and the remaining three were aboard the Fennec (M502-6).
“All the victims were confirmed dead at the scene and were subsequently transported to the Lumut Royal Malaysian Navy Base military hospital for identification purposes,” the press release stated.
The nation’s navy mentioned that a probe panel is being set up to investigate the incident.
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