Seven people including pilot die in Uttarakhand chopper crash
Rudraprayag/Dehradun, June 15 (UNI) Seven people, including the pilot, died when a helicopter carrying pilgrims returning from the Kedarnath Temple crashed in the Gaurikund area of Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district today, official sources said.
The helicopter was bringing back five devotees and an employee of the temple committee after the darshan of Baba Kedarnath when it crashed around 5-30 am due to bad weather. All seven people, including the pilot, were killed.
A 23-month-old girl is also among the dead. The pilgrim family had come from Maharashtra.
Heli service nodal officer Rahul Chaubey said Aryan Aviation Company's helicopter VTBKA/BELL 407 crashed due to bad weather in the Gaurikund area, falling in the forest above Gauri Mai Khark
He said the helicopter was going from Kedarnath Temple to Guptkashi.
Women cutting grass above Gaurikund reported about the crash, as well as the dust it raised.
District Disaster Management Officer of Rudraprayag, Nandan Singh Rajwar, said the crashed helicopter had left Kedarnath for Guptkashi at 5:21 am and at 5:24 am it was seen near Valley Poin amidst heavy fog which had turned visibility to zero in the area.
At 6:13 am, the helicopter company informed that the chopper had not reach Guptkashi. A search and rescue operation was immediately started and the emergency response teams were activated.
Eight National Disaster Response Force teams, six of the State Disaster Response Force and 22 policemen, along with the team of District Disaster Relief Force, rushed to a place called Khadak, located about five kilometres above the incident spot Gaurikund, and began a massive search operation.
He said that the bodies of the victims of the accident have been badly burnt.
Rajwar informed that there were six adults and a child in the ill-fated chopper.
The deceased have been identified as Captain Rajbir Singh Chauhan, pilot, resident of Jaipur, Vikram Rawat, employee, Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee, resident of Rasi Ukhimath, (45), Vinod Devi, resident of Uttar Pradesh, (66), Trishti Singh Uttar Pradesh, (19), Rajkumar son Suresh Jaiswal, resident of Maharashtra, (41), Shraddha wife Rajkumar Jaiswal, resident of Maharashtra, (35), Kashi daughter Rajkumar, resident of Maharashtra, girl (02).
He informed that the entire area has been cordoned off. Forensic and DNA sampling teams have also reached the spot.Rajwar informed that helpline numbers have been issued for the families of the affected. For this, State Emergency Operation Center 0135-2710334, 9058441404 1070 (toll fee) and Rudraprayag helpline number - 8958757335, 01364-233727 have been issued.
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