At least 10 people were killed on Tuesday after two Malaysian Navy helicopters collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for a Royal Malaysian Navy parade, the Malaysian Navy said in a statement.
The accident occurred at the Lumut naval base in the western state of Perak at 9.32 a.m. Tuesday morning, the navy said. "All victims were confirmed dead at the scene and sent to the Lumut army base hospital for identification," the navy said, as quoted by news agency Reuters.
According to footage published on local media, one of the aircraft clipped the rotor of the other before the two crashed into the ground, the BBC reported.
One of the helicopters, a HOM M503-3, which was carrying seven people on board, is believed to have crashed onto a running track. The other, a Fennec M502-6 carrying the other three victims, crashed into a swimming pool nearby. The state's fire and rescue department was alerted to the incident at 9:50 AM local time, the BBC reported.
Following the helicopter crash, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that "the nation mourns the heart-wrenching and soul-wrenching tragedy". "Condolences to all the families of the victims and prayers for strength to face this calamity," he said.