An Army helicopter carrying senior defence officials, including chief of defence staff Bipin Rawat, crashed at Coonoor in Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday killing four on the spot
According to reports, around14 people were on board and the chopper was flying from Sulur Airbase to Wellington when it crashed. Three officials have been rescued so far while a search is on for others, an official said. The injured have been taken to Wellington cantonment in Nilgiris.
News agency ANI reported that along with Bipin Rawat, his staff and some family members were in the Mi-series chopper. As soon as the chopper crashed, a search and rescue operation was launched from nearby bases, sources confirmed. Local people too swung into rescue work and the early photos of the crashed chopper have been sources for local rescuers.
The Indian Air Force issued a statement confirming the crash and the presence of CDS Rawat on board. “An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident,” the IAF said.
According to passenger details, Bipin Rawat, Madhulika Rawat, Brig LS Lidder, Lt Col Harjinder Singh, NK Gurusewak Singh, NK Jitendra Kumar, L/NK Vivek Kumar, L/NK B sai Teja, Hav Satpal were flying from Delhi to Sulur on the chopper. The passenger list from Sulur to Wellington is not out yet.
Visuals from the site of the Indian Air Force helicopter crash showed massive flames and locals helping with the immediate rescue operations. Several teams are at the site carrying out search and rescue operations. Local military officers have reached the location and were told that locals have taken two bodies with 80 per cent burns to a local hospital while more bodies were seen downhill .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh have been briefed on the incident.
