KUALA LUMPUR - Ten people were killed on Tuesday when two helicopters collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for a Royal Malaysian Navy parade, the navy said in a statement.
A Maritime Operations Helicopter and a Fennec helicopter collided at 9.32am at the Lumut naval base in the northwestern state of Perak, according to the Royal Malaysian Navy in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"All victims were confirmed dead at the scene and sent to the Lumut army base hospital for identification," the navy said.
Seven of the victims were crew members of the Maritime Operations Helicopter while the remaining three were aboard the Fennec, according to the navy. They were rushed to the military hospital for identification, it added.
The navy said it will form an investigating board to identify the cause of the crash.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim sent his condolences to the victims' families.
"Tthe nation mourns the heart-wrenching and soul-wrenching tragedy," said the prime minister. "I was informed that an immediate investigation will be carried out by the Ministry of Defence, especially TLDM (Royal Malaysian Navy), to find the cause of the crash."
The incident comes just eight months after a light aircraft crashed on a highway in Malaysia’s Selangor state, killing 10 people.