TWO people died and nine people were injured today when a helicopter crashed into a crane in central London and plummeted to the ground.
Witnesses reported seeing debris falling from the sky after the aircraft struck the crane before exploding into flames and plunging to a street near Vauxhall station in rush hour.
Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe confirmed that there were two deaths, one person critically injured and a number of others with less serious injuries.
London Fire Brigade station manager Bruce Grain, one of first firefighters at the scene, said it ``was absolute chaos'' but he revealed the fire was put out within 20 minutes.
Eight fire engines, four fire rescue units and around 60 firefighters plus officers attended the scene of the crash, a few hundred yards from MI6, on a busy road.
Firefighters rescued a man from a burning car and brought a blaze caused by the crash under control.
Four fire engines and two fire rescue units also attended reports of a crane in a precarious position. The brigade was called at 8am.
The crane was on top of a building called The Tower in the St George Wharf development, and is billed as one of Europe’s tallest residential towers.
