2 KILLED AND 9 INJURED IN THE LONDON HELICOPTER CRASH

Two people have been killed and nine injured when a helicopter crashed into a crane in central London in misty conditions.Police said it appeared the helicopter had hit the crane on top of The Tower, One St George Wharf at about 08:00 GMT About 90 firefighters are at the scene near Wandsworth Road in South Lambeth. Doctors said one of the dead was in the helicopter and the other on the ground.

A man was rescued from a burning car by firefighters.Burning wreckage lay in the road but the fire was brought under control within 25 minutes, the fire brigade said. Four people, one of them critically ill, were taken to hospital. Five others were treated at the scene.

Part of the crane was left hanging from the side of the building.

'Enormous bang'

The incident caused gridlock with all approaches to the Vauxhall Cross one way system closed at the height of the rush hour and Vauxhall Tube station

and railway station closed, though the stations have since reopened.

London Fire Brigade said more than 50 other firefighters were at St George's Wharf to secure the damaged crane.

Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said: "We believe there are 11 casualties, two fatalities and nine less seriously injured but one is critically ill. People are presenting themselves to different places."

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Eyewitness Andrew Beadle: "I thought it was a bomb" (Footage Jason/Complete Couriers and Jose Gomez)

He said it was too early to draw substantive conclusions but he believed the helicopter had been diverted to the Battersea heliport, and had not been due to go there.

The heliport has now been closed.

Fire brigade station manager Bruce Grain said crews arrived at the scene in four minutes.

He said the helicopter crashed into Wandsworth Road hitting various vehicles and bursting into flames and there were also fires in nearby buildings.

He said the fire was under control within 25 minutes but crews would probably be at the scene for the rest of the day damping down.

NATS, which runs air traffic control across the UK, said the helicopter pilot had been receiving assistance earlier in the journey but not at the time of the crash.

The incident will be subject to an investigation by the Air Accident Investigation Branch.

A lifeboat searched the Thames after a request from London Heliport at Battersea which had lost contact with one of its aircraft, an RNLI spokesman said, but the search was later called off.

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.

Passers-by stood watching as the wreckage burned. A motorcycle was also lying on its side in the road where it was abandoned.

Mark Osbourne, from Metropolis Motorcycles, a bike shop near the scene, said he ran to try and help the injured.

"There was lots of wreckage and fire," he said.

"I saw a woman on a motorcycle that must have missed the carnage by six feet.

"It felt like a war movie, it was surreal.

"The police arrived within minutes so the response was excellent."

'Clouds of smoke'

Craig Dunne, who was walking to work at the time of the accident, said: "When I got to the end of the road there was a massive explosion and the crane is obviously in pieces.

"And I looked to the left-hand side and there were cars - three cars on fire - people screaming shouting and hollering, and the next thing I know there are police, ambulances and everything everywhere and people going crazy. Its madness - absolute madness."

The wreckage of the helicopter landed in the road, setting cars alight

Ex-BBC producer Paul Ferguson said the helicopter "plummeted straight into the ground".

He said: "The building the helicopter hit is shrouded in mist."

He said the crane at the top of the building was now hanging down the side of the building.

Market worker Andrew Ross said: "I heard a loud bang and I saw this helicopter falling out of the sky.

"(There was) an orange glow and lots of smoke coming up.

"It was flying below cloud cover - it was still foggy and a little bit dark."

Michael Gavin, who was waiting for a train on a platform at Vauxhall station, said: "I heard the bang - the top of the crane was obscured by the fog so I did not see the impact but I did see the helicopter falling to the ground along with pieces of the crane, then the long plume of smoke from there.

Part of the crane fell to the ground after the crash

"It was really quite shocking. There was a group of us on the platform waiting, we could not see where it hit because it was blocked by a wall at the end of the station.

"There were a lot of worried people around."

Nicky Morgan, MP for Loughborough, witnessed the crash.

"I was walking towards Vauxhall Tube station from Lambeth Palace area where I have a flat," she said.

"There was suddenly an enormous bang - I thought something exploded.

"It was coming from beyond Vauxhall tube station.

"Then clouds and clouds of black smoke.

"I presumed what it was I heard was the crane collapsing or the helicopter crashing into it.

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Met Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe: "We believe the helicopter was diverting to Battersea"

"I heard the bang then saw the clouds of smoke but there was too much in the way to see much at that point."

Quinn Murray was cycling when he saw the crash.

He said: "I saw the helicopter hit the top of the crane and come down just to the left of the station.

"There was quite a large amount of fire and a huge smoke cloud. It wasn't on the road, but into a building site where they are building the new Nine Elms area."

Another witness Chris Matthison said: "The top of the nearest building is steeped in mist and difficult to see.

"I heard a very unusual dull thud, then there was silence. The silence really took my imagination. Emergency services responded very quickly."