All 10 were crew members aboard the aircraft involved in the accident, which occurred at the Lumut naval base in the western state of Perak at 9.32am on Tuesday morning, the navy said.
“All victims were confirmed dead at the scene and sent to the Lumut army base hospital for identification,” the navy said.
A video of the incident showed one of the helicopters clipping the rotor of the other aircraft before the two crashed to the ground. Local police confirmed the footage was genuine.
The aircraft were taking part in a fly-past rehearsal for the Malaysian navy’s Fleet Open Day scheduled to be held at the base in May, the Housing and Local Government Ministry said in a statement.
The two helicopters involved in the mid-air collision were a Eurocopter AS555SN Fennec, and an Agusta-Westland AW-139.
Malaysian Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said one of the helicopters crashed into a swimming pool while the other landed at a stadium within the military compound.
“I am going straight to Lumut to inspect the situation on the ground closely,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday, confirming that an investigation into the crash would be launched.
Efforts were under way to verify the identities of the crew members killed, all of whom were below the age of 40, Mohamed Khaled told reporters.
The two aircraft, which took off from a field at Sitiawan at 9.03am, crashed while training for a flyover for the navy’s 90th anniversary celebration next month.
It’s believed that a three-man crew was on board the Fennec helicopter, while there were seven crew members in the Agusta helicopter.
Malaysia’s king, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
He said that he and the queen, his wife Raja Zarith Sofiah, were “deeply saddened by the loss of the nation’s heroes in this tragedy”.
“Condolences to those who have left us forever. May they be placed among the believers and also the martyrs,” Sultan Ibrahim said.
“I also want the Malaysian armed forces to conduct a thorough investigation to obtain full information about this incident.”