Death toll rises to 8 in Glasgow helicopter crash

Eight people have been confirmed dead after a police helicopter crashed into a pub in Glasgow.  

Three of the fatalities were the helicopter crew, who have been named as David Traill, 51, and police constables Kirsty Nelis, 36, and Tony Collins, 43.

Gary Arthur, 48, from Paisley, was killed in the building after the ceiling collapsed.

The helicopter crashed into bar The Clutha after returning from an earlier operation. The bar was filled with over 100 people at 22:25 on Friday, although the exact number of people in the pub is still unknown.

The cause of the crash remains unknown.

Chief constable Sir Stephen House said: “A major investigation is under-way by the police under the direction of the crown office and procurator fiscal service and the air accident investigation branch.”

The helicopter remains embedded in the pub and workers are continuing to remove the wreckage.

“Until we remove the helicopter we cannot be sure what we’ll find,” deputy chief constable Rose Fitzpatrick told reporters.

Speaking to the BBC, Fire Brigades Union Executive Council member for Scotland, Roddy Robertston, described the recovery operation as a “slow, painstaking process” that “could take days.”

12 people remain in hospital, three of whom are in intensive care.

A service was held at Glasgow Cathedral to remember the victims on Sunday morning.

Deputy first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, attended the service.

She said: “Everybody in Glasgow wants to do something to let those who’ve been most directly affected by this tragedy know that we’re thinking of them and that although we can’t begin to imagine the grief and loss that they’re suffering, they’re not alone.”

Vanessa Smart