Tragedy at sea: Ten deaths in naval helicopter collision in Malaysia

Ten crew members died in the collision of two helicopters in Malaysia. At the time of the accident, both helicopters were practising for an air show at the Lumut Naval base.

The Royal Malaysian Navy stated in a statement that both aircraft collided on Tuesday morning (April 22), as they participated in aerial training in northern Lumut, where the navy's main headquarters are located.

One of the helicopters, an Agusta Westland AW139 Maritime Operations Helicopter (HOM), crashed near a stadium. Meanwhile, the other, a Eurocopter Fennec, fell near a pool.

The navy reported that there were seven crew members on board the Agusta and three on the Eurocopter. It was confirmed that all perished at the crash site, which occurred around 2:30 PM GMT.

"The navy will "establish an investigative committee" to determine the cause of the incident," we read in the statement.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim described the incident as "a heart-wrenching tragedy" and confirmed that an investigation will be conducted in this matter.

Videos shared on social media show several helicopters flying over the stadium. At one point, two of them dangerously approached each other and then crashed to the ground.

In the last decade, Malaysia has seen many helicopter disasters. In 2015, Jamaluddin Jarjis, the then-Malaysian ambassador to the United States and a former government minister, was among five people who died in a helicopter crash in the jungle in the central state of Selangor.

The following year, six people died in a helicopter crash in the state of Sarawak on Borneo. Among the victims was the then Deputy Minister for Plantation Industries and Commodities Noriah Kasnon.

In 2020, two people died as a result of the collision of two helicopters and crashing east of Kuala Lumpur.