TOKYO, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) attack helicopter with two crew members aboard crashed near an elementary school in Saga Prefecture, southwestern Japan, the Ministry of Defense here said Monday.
According to local firefighters attending the scene, one person is feared dead.
The Saga Prefectural Police Headquarters received an emergency call at around 4:45 p.m. local time (0745 GMT) that a military helicopter had crashed near the Chiyoda Chubu Elementary School in Kanzaki City.
Rescue services were deployed to the scene, where plumes of black smoke have been seen billowing from the crash site.
The local city office said that the helicopter crash had resulted in a residential building catching fire near a school and the Dairyuji kindergarten in the city.
An eyewitness from the kindergarten was quoted as saying she heard a loud "bang," but confirmed no one at the kindergarten was injured.
The principle at the Chiyoda Chubu Elementary School said that he could see pillars of fire and black smoke in the vicinity, but said none of the students were injured in the crash.
A woman in her 70s told local media she heard a "terrible noise" and went outside her house to see that a two-story house was on fire.
Another eyewitness in her 60s said she heard an unusual sound and looked up to see a helicopter rapidly descending with its nose pitched down.
"After it crashed, I could see black smoke rising. I was very scared," she told local media.
The defense ministry said the chopper that went down was an AH-64 (Apache).
The helicopter is a four-blade, twin-turboshaft attack helicopter and belongs to a GSDF unit in Saga's neighboring prefecture of Kumamoto.
