Seven people were killed as the chopper flying them from the Kedarnath temple to Guptkashi in Uttarakhand crashed in a forest.
The seven victims in the Aryan Aviation Helicopter crash included the pilot. During its 10-minute ride, the chopper crashed between Gaurikund and Sonprayag.
The incident occurred early in the morning, at 5:20, with seven people on board – six pilgrims (five adults and a 23-month-old child) and a pilot, according to a statement issued by the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA). All were charred to death.
As the chopper was returning after the Kedarnath Dham visit, the weather had deteriorated. The pilot attempted to wear off the chopper from the valley but it crashed.
“The weather turned bad during the return journey. The pilot tried to move the chopper out of the valley but it crashed near Gaurikund. Authorities, including NDRF and SDRF are leading the operations,” said Rahul Chaubey from the District Tourism Development.
One of the passengers was a Badarinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) employee, said Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey. The other five pilgrims were from Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Among the dead are three members of a Jaiswal family from Maharashtra’s Yavatmal – Rajkumar Jaiswal, Shradhha Jaiswal and their 23-month-old daughter Kashi Rajkumar Jaiswal. Their son, Vivaan, got saved as he stayed back with his grandfather.
Locals, who were out to collect fodder for their cattle, spotted the crashed helicopter and informed the officials.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached Gaurikund by 7 am and from there, they began a trek to the incident site and started a rescue operation at 8:55 am.
Two bodies have been recovered so far.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami shared the “distressing” news on X (formerly Twitter).
“The extremely distressing news of a helicopter crash in Rudraprayag district has been received. SDRF, local administration, and other rescue teams are engaged in relief and rescue operations,” he wrote.
This is the fifth accident since the portals of the Himalayan temple Kedarnath opened on May 2. Earlier, on June 7, a helicopter on its way to Kedarnath was forced to land on a highway in Uttarakhand after developing a technical snag during take-off.
It came dangerously close to buildings, and its tail rotor fell on a parked car. The five pilgrims on board came out safely, while the pilot sustained minor injuries.
(NDTV)
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