"Helicopter cash in London: Two killed, 15 injured in scenes of panic, soaring house prices and absolute madness'"

From The Evening Standard:

A helicopter piloted by the Governor of the Bank of England started showering cash from a 600ft tower block in central London today and cartwheeled on to the street in a hail of wreckage and fluttering fifty pound notes.

Two people died and 15 were priced out of the market after the 'copter’s cash hit local house prices. Empty briefcases crashed down on Wandsworth Road, 20 yards from Vauxhall station as thousands of commuters stopped off to look in estate agents' windows.

Houses were snapped up by cash-rich buyers as the notes and coins poured down a road and there were reports of people shouting for help in picking up their windfall. A motorcyclist was unable to brake in time and rode into a pile of freshly printed notes.

Witness Craig Marchland said: "People were screaming. It was madness, absolute madness. There was cash to the eyeballs. The house price explosion was like a bomb. There were three cars snapped up for list price straight off the forecourt."

Another said of the helicopter: "There was a loud crack as the briefcases were opened and the money came spinning out of control towards us. Nobody would have got out of there penniless."

Commander Neil Basu of the Met Police said: "It was something of a miracle that this was not many, many times worse."

Vauxhall Tube and rail stations were deserted over Vauxhall Bridge to Pimlico. Traffic along the whole of Millbank and both sides of the river was jammed and commuters were forced to scramble for the injection of QE money on foot. No pedestrians were allowed across Vauxhall Bridge.

The pilot was named this afternoon as Sir Mervyn King, 64, who is believed to be married with children. He had over 25 years’ experience in banking and was working for City-based financial services firms.