Hong Kong couple badly hurt in Japanese helicopter crash seek help from city’s immigration authorities

Hong Kong immigration authorities have reached out to a couple from the city who were among three people seriously injured in a helicopter crash in Japan.

The Immigration Department on Tuesday said it was working with the Chinese consulate in Fukuoka to provide help to the man and woman.

According to Japanese media, a sightseeing helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing around noon on Sunday in Kumamoto prefecture’s Aso city after suffering a mid-flight engine failure.

Local authorities said the aircraft hit the ground hard, with all three people on board suffering serious injuries. The Hong Kong couple, both in their thirties, sustained hip and rib fractures, while their pilot, a man in his fifties, broke his spine.

The helicopter sustained damage to its landing gear and tail.

Japanese media said the helicopter had taken off from an airfield at local zoo Aso Cuddly Dominion.