Helicopters collide over Australian beach, 4 passengers dead
Melbourne (AP) Two helicopters collided in an Australian tourist hotspot Monday afternoon, killing four passengers and critically injuring three others in a crash that drew emergency aid from beachgoers enjoying the water during the southern summer.
One helicopter appeared to have been taking off and the other landing when they collided near the Sea World theme park in Main Beach, a northern beach on the Gold Coast, Gary Worrell, Queensland state police acting inspector, said at a news conference.
One helicopter landed safely on a sandbank, but debris from the other was spread across an area police described as difficult to access.
The dead and three most seriously injured people were all passengers in the crashed helicopter.
"Members of the public and police tried to remove the people and they commenced first aid and tried to get those people to safety from an airframe that was upside down," Worrell said.
"(People on) Jet Skis, family boaters, ordinary members of the public rushed to assist these people."
Passengers in the other helicopter, which lost its windscreen in the crash, are also receiving medical assistance.
Footage of the crash showed a helicopter shortly after takeoff being clipped by another helicopter flying over the water.
A witness named John told Melbourne radio station 3AW that patrons at Sea World heard the crash.
He said staff at the theme park moved swiftly to close off areas closest to the crash.
"There was a massive, massive bang," he said. "It was just huge. I'm not sure if it was the propellers or whatever hitting against each other. But there was this poor lady and her son near the helipad in tears."
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the accident was an "unthinkable tragedy.
"My deepest sympathies are with each of the families and everyone affected by this terrible accident," she said.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said an investigation into the cause of the crash was underway.
Queensland Ambulance Service said earlier that 13 people were being assessed for injuries.
The Gold Coast region is at its busiest in January, the peak time for holidays in Australia's summer. (AP)
LATEST: At least four people have died after two helicopters collided near Sea World on the Gold Coast.
— 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) January 2, 2023
Paramedics say 13 patients are being assessed at the scene.
People are being asked to avoid the area. #9News
Read more: https://t.co/6OLHoRo4j1 pic.twitter.com/w5SjL96K5H
Two helicopters have crashed into each other in a mid-air collision on the Gold Coast, near Sea World. pic.twitter.com/3Vx9ymNssc
— 10 News First Queensland (@10NewsFirstQLD) January 2, 2023
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bihar has 'failed' on all parameters during 21 years of NDA rule: Tejashwi
Patna (PTI): Launching a frontal attack on the Bihar government, RJD's national working president, Tejashwi Yadav, on Thursday, alleged that the state has "failed" on all parameters during the 21 years of NDA rule.
His remarks came four days ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar on March 16. Six candidates—five from the ruling NDA and one from the RJD are in the fray for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar.
In a post on X on Thursday, Yadav wrote, "The NDA government failed on all parameters despite years of a double-engine government. Bihar continues to rank at the bottom of most development indicators even after 21 years of NDA rule."
"Bihar is a unique state where the NDA's double-engine government has been in power for decades, yet the state still performs poorly across several socio-economic indicators. Bihar is the poorest state in the country, has the highest migration, the highest levels of crime and corruption, the highest unemployment, the highest level of multidimensional poverty and highest school dropout rate in the country, lowest literacy rate in the country, and the state has the lowest per capita income in the country," he wrote.
He further claimed that Bihar is the state where farmers' income is lowest in the country, lowest per capita consumption in the country, lowest computer literacy in the country, lowest electricity consumption in the country, lowest basic infrastructure in the country, lowest quality education in the country and the lowest industrial units in the country.
Yadav, who is also Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, said the state is lagging in almost every development indicator. He accused the government of avoiding accountability while running the administration through bureaucratic control, state resources and caste politics.
Ironically, despite being lowest on all development parameters, Bihar is leading in buying expensive gas, leading in buying expensive electricity, leading in buying expensive petrol-diesel, and here buying property is more expensive than in Delhi and Mumbai, he alleged.
State BJP spokesperson, Neeraj Kumar, refuted the charges levelled by Yadav and told PTI, "RJD leader should have compared the current situation in Bihar with the period between 1990 and 2005 when the state was governed by Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. The condition improved only after the NDA government led by Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005."
