Shocking footage has revealed the moment a fireball rockets into the sky after a helicopter crashed into the roof of a hotel in , as two guests were rushed to hospital.
Emergency services were called to the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton on the corners of Esplanade, Abbott and Florence Street, in Cairns City, , at roughly 1.50am this morning.
Queensland Ambulance confirmed in a post on social media that a ‘helicopter has crashed into the roof of a hotel’, before adding that 300 to 400 people have been evacuated.
The pilot is understood to have suffered life-threatening injuries while two people who were staying in one of the rooms have been rushed to hospital.
Footage captured by a tourist visiting was shared to social media and showed the roof engulfed by massive red and orange flames.
Huge clouds of black smoked billowed out from the top of the hotel as the blaze continued to rage.
Some hotel guests stood in a nearby park and watched as the flames burned through the hotel.
‘The whole building is on fire,’ one woman was heard saying as flames were seen inside the bottom floor of the hotel.
‘Did you see it? The helicopter… it’s just crazy. I was just walking along there… I saw it going down,’ she continued.
A Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) has also since been declared and an exclusion zone has been enacted encompassing Esplanade, Minnie Street, Aplin Street and Grafton Street.
Queensland Ambulance Service confirmed on social media: ‘The building was evacuated as a precaution and there were no injuries sustained by people on the ground.’
Two people will be taken to Cairns Hospital in a stable condition following assessments from paramedics.
Queensland police declared a Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) and an exclusion zone was enacted encompassing Esplanade, Minnie Street, Aplin Street and Grafton Street.
Members of the public have been advised to avoid the area while police continue investigating the incident.
According to social media posts, the hotel is believed to be the Hilton Doubletree.
One person said on X, formerly Twitter, that people are ‘sitting in evacuation centre at Hilton in Cairns, there has been no communication from authorities to we evacuees’.
Another told : ‘I was on the other side of the hotel and was woken by a big bang.
‘There was very little instruction from the police. We were gathered outside the hotel, told to walk to the RSL then The Riley then in another direction where we were marked off a roll by room number.
‘We were then instructed to walk to the big Hilton or line up for a bus to that site. On arriving there we were directed to the ballroom area.
‘At no time did anyone in authority give us any information about arrangements. Communication at that site was practically non-existent.’