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BREAKING NEWS
GARETH ROSE AND JEREMY WATSON
SCOTTISH rally champion Colin McRae is feared dead after a helicopter crash close to his Lanarkshire home.
The Twin Squirrel helicopter registered to the former World Champion rally driver came down shortly after 4pm this afternoon about 200 yards from his 17th-century mansion house.
Police sources said the blue helicopter used by the 39-year-old multi-millionaire craft had exploded in a “fireball.”
Eyewitness David Lowry, who lives nearby, said the helicopter flew over his head before plunging into a valley.
As many as four people are believed to have died in the crash but it was not clear tonight how many were aboard the aircraft at the time.
Local people feared McCrae had been travelling with a male friend and two children.
A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said officers were trying to establish who was on board and where the helicopter was travelling to and from.
“The damage has been so bad that we don’t know how many people were on board. It might be one, it might be more,” she said. “We just don’t know at the moment.”
She added that it could be some time before official identifications can be made.
Weather conditions at the time were deteriorating with strengthening winds and light rain.
The Department of Transport’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch were travelling to the scene at Jervis Wood, one mile north of Lanark last night.
The Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed that its own helicopter had been despatched to the scene along with three ambulance crews.
Strathclyde Fire Brigade also has units in attendance at the scene.
David Lowry, 48, who owns New Steadings Farm, just across the Mouse Water from McRae’s home, with his wife and two daughters, saw the helicopter crash.
He said: “I was speaking to one of my friends on the farm. The helicopter came overhead and then disappeared into the valley.
“After it disappeared I saw smoke rising from the trees and phoned the emergency services.
“I could not see what happened when it went down. It did not seem to be in any trouble. It was about half a mile from me and the helicopter seemed to be flying normally.
"It was navy blue in colour and I am led to believe it belongs to Colin McRae.
"It is up so often my cattle don’t even flinch when it is overhead."
He added: “I know him well enough to say hello to, although I don’t know him personally.
“If it turns out to be him it will have an unbelievable effect on the local community.”
He added: “Colin is a very popular person around here. We only moved here seven years ago, but they are a Lanark family born and bred.”
McCrae was the first Briton to be named world rally champion when he won the title in the mid-1990s. He was later awarded an MBE by the Queen for his outstanding achievements.
He has also produced very popular rally computer games.
As darkness fell tonight, police had erected a blue incident tent in the woods at the scene of the crash.
Police threw a 600-yard cordon around the house. Friends and relatives of the McRae family were gathering at the home of a neighbour, 300 yards from the McRae home.
McCrae, born in Lanark in 1968, is the son of five-time British Rally Champion, Jimmy McRae.
He was the first Briton to be named world champion when he won it in the mid-1990s. He was also awarded an MBE by the Queen for his outstanding achievements.
He has also produced very popular and lucrative rally computer games, including Colin McRae Dirt.
McRae also bought a home in Monaco in 1995, partly through his friendship with Formula One driver David Coulthard.
However, as his young family has grown up, he has spent more time back at his home in Lanarkshire - accepting the higher tax liability of living in Scotland. McRae is married to Alison, and has two children, Hollie, 4, and five-year-old Johnny.
His brother, Alister, believed to be in Australia at present, is also a professional rally driver and has enjoyed some success, including winning the British Rally Championship in 1995.
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