Update (0048 EST, 02JAN23): Thirteen victims are being assessed by medical staff and now four people have been confirmed dead with another six hospitalized. Eyewitnesses state that one helicopter was taking off while the other was landing near the sand bar.

3 dead ?

— StepUpAustralia (@Nat40709850) January 2, 2023

At approximately 2315 EST, reports of a helicopter crash near Sea World in Main Beach, QLD, Australia began to emerge. Eyewitnesses captured video immediately following the crash, purporting to show the wreckage of at least one airframe on a sandbar near Broadwater opposite Sea World. One helicopter was able to land and the other crashed.

Local news reported that three had been killed and two were injured after apparently, both helicopters landed and/or crashed on the sand bar.

#BREAKING: Emergency services are responding after a helicopter crash on the Gold Coast Broadwater at Southport.

Three people are believed dead, with two more seriously injured.

More details to come. #9News pic.twitter.com/Mmtw1ENscL

— 9News Gold Coast (@9NewsGoldCoast) January 2, 2023