Two dead in central London helicopter crash
[gallery] Two people died and 13 were injured today when a helicopter crashed and burst into flames in central London.
Witnesses reported seeing debris falling from the sky after the aircraft struck a crane before exploding into flames and plunging on to a street near Vauxhall station during rush hour.
The crane was on top of a building called The St George Wharf Tower in South Lambeth which, when completed, will be one of Europe's tallest residential structures.
Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe confirmed that there were two deaths, one of which was the pilot. One person was critically injured and a number of others received less serious injuries.
The pilot had been attempting to divert to the London Heliport at Battersea due to bad weather. He had been on a scheduled flight from Surrey to Hertfordshire. The other fatality was a person on the ground.
London Fire Brigade station manager Bruce Grain, one of the first firefighters at the scene, said it "was absolute chaos" but the fire was put out within 20 minutes.
Eight fire engines, four fire rescue units and 88 firefighters plus officers attended the scene of the crash, a few hundred yards from MI6. Firefighters rescued a man from a burning car and brought a blaze caused by the crash under control. A photograph shows the damage caused to the VW car, which was hit by debris from the helicopter.
The front and side windows were smashed, the passenger door was open and the vehicle was badly charred.
A section of twisted metal from the helicopter lay next to the vehicle. Video footage shot on a mobile phone showed an entire road blocked by burning wreckage and aviation fuel. The side of a building on one side of the street was also damaged by the flames. Paul Ferguson, who was working in an office near the scene, said: "There was a flash and the helicopter plunged to the ground. It exploded and you can imagine the smoke coming out of it.
"It may be that on this misty morning the lights on nearby St George Tower weren't on and it moved and clipped the edge of the crane and lost control."
Prime Minister David Cameron was "very saddened to learn of the fatalities and injuries", his spokesman said.
Peter Kowup, from the London Fire Brigade, said this afternoon: "We are now focused on making the tower crane safe, working with specialist contractors, who will now work on the crane to dismantle it to bring this crisis to a close."
