Hundreds of hotel guests have been evacuated after a helicopter crashed into the roof of the Double Tree by Hilton in Cairns and burst into flames at 1.50am on Monday (AEST).

There are grave fears for the pilot, who was flying over Cairns’ Esplanade holiday hub in far north Queensland when the terrifying incident occurred.

Two other people – a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s – were taken to Cairns Hospital in a stable condition.

Queensland police set up an exclusion zone encompassing spanning streets — and many hotels — after declaring a Public Safety Preservation Act.

The exclusion took in the Esplanade, Minnie Street, Abbott Street and Florence Street.

“At the time, it was too unsafe for us to enter the hotel to view the [crash site],” Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Caitlin Denning said.

“The helicopter impacted the roof of the hotel, however two propellers have dislodged.

“One landed on the Cairns Esplanade and there was a second propeller located in the hotel pool on the bottom floor and it was on fire.”

The public has been advised to avoid the area amid fears that the fuel on board the craft might explode.

Earlier on Monday, flames and smoke could be seen rising from the luxury hotel which overlooks the water in the tourism precinct.

It’s not known where the helicopter was flying to and how many people were on board. The wreckage is said to be badly damaged.

Channel Seven’s Sunrise reports that 300-400 people were staying at the hotel. Guests were woken by a loud bang, which some thought sounded like a bomb going off.

No one on the ground was injured, police said.

“It is quite frightening to hear, that noise of a helicopter crashing,” Denning earlier told the ABC.

“There’s been reports it sounded like a bomb, and seeing smoke and fire from that, a lot of the occupants of the hotel were very unsure about the situation at the time.

“There is a lot of unease at the evacuation centre.”

Police remained on scene investigating the incident into Monday morning. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is also sending investigators to the scene.

-more to come