British couple killed in Australia helicopter crash

The British victims of a mid-air collision between two helicopters on Australia’s Gold Coast have been named.

Diane Hughes, 57, and her 65-year-old husband Ron were from Liverpool and had only got married last year. They were on holiday, Queensland Police said.

The pilot and another passenger also died in Monday’s crash, which happened as one helicopter was taking off from a sandbar and the other was landing.

Three others, including two children, were badly injured and are in hospital.

The cause of the crash, which happened near the Sea World resort, is not yet known.

Officials say it happened less than 20 seconds after one of the helicopters had taken off.

All those killed and critically injured were in the ascending helicopter, which crashed within seconds after its main rotor blade struck the cockpit of the other aircraft, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.

The second helicopter landed upright on the sandbank. Five of the six people on board suffered minor injuries.

Footage from the scene showed wreckage strewn across the area.

One eyewitness has said he heard “a loud bang” and saw “pieces of shrapnel flying everywhere”.

The ATSB said it would conduct interviews and meticulously scour the helicopters, crash scene, footage, and other evidence before establishing what had caused the crash.

It called on eyewitnesses to come forward.

Police said boat operators had rushed to help after the crash at about 14:00 local time (04:00 GMT), including by giving CPR.

Rescue teams faced challenges accessing the sandbank and later securing evidence amid tidal changes, officials said.

The ATSB’s preliminary report is due in six to eight weeks.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country had been left shocked by the “terrible and tragic incident”.

The Gold Coast is a popular holiday destination and hundreds of people are likely to have seen the accident.

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