- Friday, May 03, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
A HELICOPTER of the Indian Army on Wednesday (9) crashed in a forest area near Coonoor in Nilgiris district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and it had the country’s chief of defence staff Bipin Rawat and his family members on board.
Eleven out of 14 people who were on board the helicopter were confirmed dead. The incident reportedly took place due to low-visibility caused by foggy conditions. There was no immediate information on the condition of the chief of the defence staff.
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The Indian Air Force confirmed on Twitter that Rawat was on the ill-fated flight which he had taken to reach the Defence Staff College in Wellington in Tamil Nadu to give a lecture. The helicopter took off from Sulur Indian Air Force station near Coimbatore.
Search and rescue operations were launched from nearby bases, reports said citing sources. Official sources in Coimbatore also said that bodies were being retrieved while the injured were rescued from under the debris of the helicopter which crashed in Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area near Coonoor in the hilly Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, Press Trust of India reported.
Rawat, a former Indian Army chief, took over as the country’s first chief of defence staff on January 1, 2020.
“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 air force tweeted.
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.— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) December 8, 2021
Television visuals showed remains of the helicopter in flames with local people helping in the rescue operation.
MK Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, expressed shock over the crash and said all necessary steps will be taken during the rescue operations.
