Police helicopter crashes into crowded pub in Glasgow, Scotland

A police helicopter crashed into a crowded Glasgow pub late Friday night, sending dozens of people clamoring to escape the dust-choked building where untold others remained trapped, the BBC Scotland reported.

The crash occurred at the Clutha pub on the banks of the Clyde River as a nine-piece band was performing for a crowd of more than 100 people, patron Fraser Gibson told the BBC.

It was unclear whether there were fatalities or what the fate was of the crew in the police helicopter.

A member of parliament in the area at the time, the Labor Party’s international development spokesman, Jim Murphy, described for the broadcaster “a horrible, horrible scene,� but praised the quick response of locals who formed a human chain to help bring the injured to safety and waiting emergency medical care.

Grace MacLean, who was inside the pub at the time of the crash, said she was “having a nice time� when there was a “whoosh� and then smoke, the Associated Press reported.

“The band were laughing and we were all joking that the band had made the roof come down,� she told the BBC, according to the report. “They carried on playing and then it started to come down more and someone started screaming and then the whole pub just filled with dust. You couldn’t see anything, you couldn’t breathe.�

At least 15 fire engines were on the scene into the early hours of Saturday, working to reach any patrons trapped in the wreckage, Scotland’s Daily Record reported.

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