Two Malaysian navy helicopters collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for a naval parade on Tuesday, killing all 10 crew members aboard, the navy said in a statement.

The incident occurred at the Lumut naval base in the western state of Perak at 9.32 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the navy said.

“All victims were confirmed dead at the scene and sent to the Lumut naval base military hospital for identification,” Reuters reported the navy as saying.

A video circulating on local media showed several helicopters flying in formation, when one of the choppers’ rotor clipped another before both aircraft crashed into the ground.

Local police confirmed the footage was genuine.

The navy said it would carry out an investigation into the cause of the accident, Reuters reported.

Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the aircraft – a maritime operations helicopter and a Fennec military chopper – were rehearsing for a parade celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Navy, due to be held on Saturday.

Efforts were underway to verify the identities of the crew members killed, all of whom were below the age of 40, Mohamed Khaled told reporters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the support of the United States, Britain and France for Ukraine was stoking serious strategic risks that had raised the risk of a direct confrontation between the world’s biggest nuclear powers.

Lavrov said the United States and NATO were obsessed with the idea of inflicting “strategic defeat” on Russia and there were risks in such confrontation that could lead to an increased level of nuclear danger, Reuters reported.

“The Westerners are teetering dangerously on the brink of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences,” Lavrov said.

The United States and its allies say they are helping Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression and that it is Russia that is aggravating East-West tensions, including by issuing repeated warnings about the danger of a nuclear conflict.

Lavrov said: “Of particular concern is the fact that it is the ‘troika’ of Western nuclear states that are among the key sponsors of the criminal Kyiv regime, the main initiators of various provocative steps. We see serious strategic risks in this, leading to an increase in the level of nuclear danger.”

The three Western countries with nuclear weapons are the United States, Britain and France.