There must be a rollicking evening its been in the pub “The Clutha” in Glasgow. The ska band Esperanza played, the bar was well stocked with about 120 young people. With music and a few drinks they wanted to enjoy their Friday night. Up to 22.30 clock, a police helicopter crashed on the flat roof of the single-storey building. The wreck of the Eurocopter since then inserted firmly in the building.
The chief Constable of Police Scotland said were now dealing with a “search and recovery operation” after rescue teams worked through the night to try to rescue people from the wreckage of The Clutha Vaults pub after the aircraft plunged into the roof.
But he said they were still hoping to find survivors alive the remains of the building.
At least one person died after police said. But you reckon “that the number will rise in the coming hours,” said a spokesman. Earlier, the British broadcaster BBC and the Scottish newspaper “Herald Scotland” had consistently reported three deaths. 32 injured have been rushed to the hospital according to the authorities. In addition, the fire department should be further deployed to help Disaster victims on the spot, police said in a statement on Saturday morning.
According to police spokeswoman Rose Fitzpatrick people were included in the pub in the early morning still. Some of them contact had been included, it said. Eyewitnesses told of bloody sacrifices, which had been partially brought with deep wounds and other injuries from the building.
At least six people are now known to have died after the helicopter hit the lively city nightspot, which was packed with more than 100 people listening to a band, at 10.25pm on Friday.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday morning, Sir Stephen House said: “Sadly at this time I can confirm one fatality. We expect that number to increase over the coming hours.”
He confirmed that a further 32 people had been taken to Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Western Infirmary with “multiple injuries” last night.
Sir Stephen says that specialist teams were working to stabilise the building in a “difficult and sensitive” operation and said: “We’re still in a search and recovery phase, and as always our prayers are that it is successful and we do recover people alive.
He said: “There are people on the scene trying to make contact with anyone who may be alive at the scene … All we can do is confirm there has been one fatality but we are fearful there will be more.”
Rescue teams had said they had contacted people inside the pub overnight but Sir Stephen could not say when the last contact had been made.
First Minister Alex Salmond said “This is a black day for Glasgow and Scotland but it’s also St Andrew’s Day, and it’s a day we can take pride and courage in how we respond to adversity and tragedy.”
He praised the “instinctive bravery of ordinary Glaswegians” who went to the rescue of those trapped inside the pub and the emergency service saying: ” … It’s a day we can take great pride in how we’ve responded to this extraordinary tragedy.”
The Police have given no details of what has happened to the crew of two officers and a civilian pilot on board the helicopter.
Grace MacLean, who had been inside the pub when the helicopter struck, told Sky News: “Someone started shouting and the band cut the music … and then all of a sudden this cloud of dust came.
“You couldn’t breathe for inhaling a mouthful of dust. You couldn’t see anything. You were clawing at the walls to see where the exit is.”
It is still unclear what caused the crash, with one eyewitness saying the aircraft “dropped like a stone” and police have now launched a full investigation into the crash under the direction of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
Investigators from the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) were on the scene on Saturday morning trying to piece together what had happened.
Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick said: “A full investigation is now underway however at this early stage it is too early to provide details on why the helicopter came down. There were three people on board the helicopter – two police officers and a civilian pilot and on a busy Friday night, there were a number of customers in the bar.”
A tent had been erected on top of the pub on Saturday morning over the wreckage of the aircraft, whose rotor could be seen protruding from the roof.
The helicopter, a EC135 T2, which is widely used in the police force, has a good safety record with one incident in 2007 after which the AAIB asked manufacturers Eurocopter to look at a stability system switch.
Gordon Smart, editor of the Sun’s Scottish edition, saw the crash from a multi-storey car park nearby.
“I thought it was a plane that was going to crash. I looked up at the sky and I could see the helicopter falling, tumbling … and then there was an eerie silence for the last part of the fall.
“But the thing that was disturbing and shocking was there was no explosion. I couldn’t understand why a helicopter would fall from that height and not explode. To see the angle, the speed and the trajectory of the fall … it was a horrific sight.”
Members of Esperanza, the band playing at the time, all escaped from the wreckage unharmed. They posted on their Facebook site: “Best wishes to everyone from tonight…Hope everyone who got out managed to get home or somewhere safe to stay. To everyone who was injured…please get fixed soon. And please please please let us know of the people who we haven’t heard from yet…hope they’re found ok.”
Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: “My thoughts are with everyone affected by the helicopter crash in Glasgow – and the emergency services working tonight.”
Labour leader Ed Miliband told : “There will be lots of people worried about their loved ones who are unaccounted for, and my thoughts are with them, and also with the people of Glasgow, who are an incredibly strong people, who showed last night in reaction when the helicopter hit, great bravery, great courage, great calm, in the midst of all this.”
A number of St Andrew’s Day events were being cancelled on Saturday morning as the tragic toll of Friday night’s crash started to become apparent.
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