The 10 crew members on board were killed after two Malaysian navy helicopters crashed in midair during a practice for a parade, according to the navy.
The military said in a statement that the incident happened at the Lumut naval facility in the western state of Perak on Tuesday at 9:32 a.m. (0132 GMT).
The statement stated that “all victims were confirmed dead at the scene and sent to the Lumut naval base military hospital for identification.”
Multiple helicopters were flying in tandem when one of their rotors clipped another, and both of them fell into the ground, according to a video that was making the rounds on local television.
The accident’s cause will be investigated by the Malaysian navy, and local police have confirmed that the footage is authentic.
According to the navy, the helicopters involved were an AW139 maritime operation helicopter with seven persons on board and a Eurocopter AS555SN Fennec lightweight carrying three crew members.
The multinational European defense company Airbus makes the Fennec. According to local media, the Fennec struck a swimming pool close by, while the AW139 crashed in a naval station sports complex.
Images from the naval base stadium track showed the severely damaged Fennec surrounded by rescue workers and other debris.
The two aircraft were practicing for a parade honoring the 90th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Navy that is scheduled to take place on Saturday, according to Mohamed Khaled Nordin, the minister of defense.
Mohamed Khaled informed reporters that efforts were being made to confirm the identities of the crew members who perished, all of whom were under 40.
Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, expressed his sympathies to the victims’ families, stating that “the nation mourns the heart-wrenching and soul-wrenching tragedy.” “I was told that the Ministry of Defense, particularly the Royal Malaysian Navy, will launch an immediate investigation to determine the crash’s cause,” the man stated.
Helicopter-related incidents are not unusual in the country of southeast Asia.
A Malaysian coast guard helicopter crashed in the Malacca Strait last month, but fortunately no one was killed. A deputy minister perished in the 2016 crash of a Eurocopter AS350 in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. This article was supported by Reuters, Associated Press, and Agence-France-Presse.