On Monday, a mid-air collision between two helicopters killed four people on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
An investigation was opened to determine the circumstances of the accident, which also caused three serious injuries.
On television images, the rotors of a device lay on a sandbar a few meters from the shore.
Not far away, one of the two helicopters was overturned on the sand, according to the public television channel ABC.
The other aircraft, largely intact at the scene of the tragedy, landed "on the sandbar just next to Sea World Park", said Inspector Gary Worrell of the Queensland Police.
WATCH: #BNNAustralia Reports
A midair collision between two helicopters near the popular tourist strip of Main Beach on the #GoldCoast, south of #Brisbane, killed four people and critically injured three others on Monday at 2 pm, according to authorities in #Australia.
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— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) January 2, 2023
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Witnesses helping the injured
The exact causes of the collision are not known but it seems that one helicopter was taking off when the other was landing, according to the police inspector.
The one that landed safely had lost its windshield, while the other crashed and overturned, police said.
Rescue operations were complicated by the location of the accident, on a sandbar, noted Gary Worrell.
"Members of the public and the police tried to get people out and started (providing) first aid to try to get them to safety," added the policeman, before "thanking everyone who helped and allowed to take these people to emergency care.
At the scene, a bright yellow rescue helicopter touched down on the sand after the accident, while dozens of rescuers spread out on the ground, according to television images.
Several police and rescue vessels stood ready to intervene near the sandbar strewn with debris from the two helicopters.
The Australian Transport Safety Board announced the opening of an investigation into the accident, presented as a “mid-air collision”.
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Australia
Accident
Helicopter
World