Helicopters collide in Australia leaving four people dead

Four people have been killed in Australia as two helicopters collided on late January 2.

According to the BBC, three more people were critically injured, including two children, when the collision occurred on Australia's Gold Coast near the Sea World resort in Queensland.

One helicopter was taking off and the other was landing when they collided, the state police said at a news conference, noting that the accident happened less than 20 seconds after one helicopter took off.

One of the vehicles landed safely on a sandbank, but debris from the other was spread across an area police described as difficult to access.

Both helicopters were operating tourist flights for Sea World. 

The dead and three most seriously injured people were all in the crashed helicopter. The pilot was killed and three of its six passengers.

As the publication notes, investigators are still trying to work out what caused the fatal accident.