An eyewitness to a dramatic plane crash in B.C. said he heard a loud bang, felt a vibration, then saw a huge hole where a small plane had crashed into the building where his office is located.
The two-engine airplane struck the ninth floor of the Richmond building on Friday, leaving 130 residents homeless due to what the city describes as severe water and smoke damage that could take months to repair.
The pilot of the plane, 82-year-old Peter Garrison, was killed when the plane crashed into the building and lodged next to the elevator shaft.
Jas Bhopal, a psychiatrist who was inside the building when the crash occurred, described the moments immediately after the impact as he looked outside his office window.
"Suddenly there was a very, very loud bang. Maybe a slight vibration. It's a very busy lane there and lots of cars and trucks go by," Bhopal told CTV's Canada AM.
"There was a blue car at the end and I thought maybe a car had struck the building. and then I saw my client look up and some dust came down, an aluminum strip about two-feet long came down and he ran across the road."
Bhopal then ran outside to where a group of people had gathered and were looking up at the building.
"Somebody said a plane struck our building. I was completely shocked. Completely -- you know, numbed by the whole thing. I looked up and, yes, indeed there was a huge, gaping hole, no sign of a plane. They said the plane had gone right into the apartment."
He said the plane narrowly missed a busy Chinese market where several hundred people were gathered at the time of the crash.
"It was fortunate that the plane hadn't struck that market but it was unfortunate it struck our building," Bhopal said.
Bhopal said the area where the crash happened is a "cozy little neighbourhood in Richmond" and wouldn't likely be a target for terrorism. However, he said he couldn't help but be reminded of the terrorist bombings of Sept. 11 in New York City.
"Immediately I did think of 9/11, of course, and expected the apartment to go up in flames. But there was no smoke. There was no fire."
While Bhopal and the others were looking up, a woman came to the edge of the hole created by the plane and began shouting down in Chinese.
"There was a lot of Chinese people there, so I said, 'What's she saying?' And one of the Chinese men translated, saying she's saying 'help, help, help.'"
He said he ensured that emergency services had been called, then shouted for her to leave the building as quickly as possible, but she remained in the apartment for some time, reappearing at the edge of the hole a number of times. Eventually the building's sprinkler system was activated and water began to trickle out of the hole in the building, Bhopal said.
About 135 tenants of the building, who are both owners and renters, have registered with emergency services and are being provided with free food and accommodations for six days.
When that period runs out, the residents will have to rely on relatives or their own insurance companies for accomodations.
There is no word yet on what may have caused the accident.
