Racehorse owner among five in helicopter crash

The former owner of Ffos Las racecourse is one of two people in hospital after a helicopter crashed into woodland in north Wales.

Dai Walters was in the crash near Llanelidan, near Ruthin, Denbighshire, at about 17:36 GMT on Tuesday.

Emergency services said two people had been taken to hospital but nobody was believed to have suffered life-changing or life-threatening injuries.

One witness said five men were on board the helicopter when it crashed.

The Welsh Ambulance Service said all occupants had been accounted for.

Mr Walters, who also owns racehorses, owned Ffos Las in Carmarthenshire from when it opened in 2009 until 2018.

Huw Howatson, who saw the helicopter crash, said there were a group of five men in the helicopter when it got into difficulty.

"It was horrible, I watched it happen and I was filming the helicopter. I could see it was in trouble and it hit some trees and I had to get out the way," he said.

"A piece of propeller came away. We had to scarper because there was lots of debris, it was just flying everywhere - it was like a movie."

The Welsh Ambulance Service said two casualties were taken to Denbighshire's Glan Clwyd Hospital, despite earlier reports indicating four people had been taken to hospital.  

A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We were called shortly before 17:30 last night, Tuesday 1 November, to reports of a helicopter crash in woodland near Llanelidan, Ruthin.

"We sent a paramedic in a rapid response car and three emergency ambulances to the scene, where crews were also supported Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service colleagues and a duty operations manager.

"Two patients were taken to Glan Clwyd Hospital."

A spokesperson for the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said: "An accident near Ruthin, north Wales, involving a helicopter has been notified to the AAIB.

"An investigation has been launched and a team of inspectors are at the accident site."