Malaysian army chopper crashes into remote school; 22 injured
A MALAYSIAN military helicopter crashed into a school in a rural area on Borneo island, leaving at least 22 people injured, including students, officials said.
The Malaysian air force says the helicopter, which was on a routine training flight, made an emergency crash landing early Tuesday two hours after it took off at a high school in Tawau in Sabah state. It says all 14 people on board the plane survived, and that it will investigate the cause of the crash.
District police officer Mohamad Effendi says the helicopter hit part of the roof of the school canteen when it crashed.
Probe team to investigate Nuri chopper crash in Sabah @1MinDef@HishammuddinH2O@airforcenextgenhttp://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/10/177885/probe-team-investigate-nuri-chopper-crash-sabah …
He said the pilot was in critical condition, and that seven students and a school worker also suffered light injuries.
Malaysian national news agency Bernama reported that the helicopter had earlier tried to land on the school field. The report also said that one of the chopper’s rotor blades was flung about 200 metres away from the scene.
Images of the accident showed the helicopter had clipped the rooftop of the school block during landing, plunging through a shelter roof.
Tawau district police chief ACP Fadil Marsus was quoted as saying that the crash caused the school to be closed for the day.“We also received reports that some students have been traumatised by the incident as it had happened during lessons in class.”
The accident caused extensive damage to a three-storey building, the living skills centre and a hall under construction at the SMK Balung high school, which is located some 40km from the town centre.
The education ministry in a statement said six out of the eight who were injured were discharged from hospital and allowed to go home after receiving treatment.
“As for the students suffering trauma, the ministry will be providing them with counseling,” said the ministry as quoted by the New Straits Times.
