Wed 08 December 2021:
A military chopper carrying Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and 13 others crashed shortly after take-off today in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Air Force said.
“An IAF Mi-17 V5 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,” tweeted the Air Force.
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
Five bodies have been found from the crash site and two persons have been taken to hospital with severe burn injuries. A search is on for seven others.
Visuals showed wreckage scattered on a steep hillside and rescuers at work, struggling through thick smoke and fire. Charred bodies were pulled out by locals and cops from under mangled metal and fallen trees.
A helicopter carrying India’s defence chief General Bipin Rawat has crashed in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the air force said.#Generalbipinrawat #India #defencechief #India pic.twitter.com/bQmaydm6Jk
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) December 8, 2021
General Rawat’s wife, his Defence Assistant, security commandos and Air Force personnel were among 14 people on board.
Five people have died. Two are in hospital with 90 per cent burn injuries. A search is on for the other seven. The injured are being treated at the military hospital at the Wellingdon base.
The identities of those killed is being withheld at this point. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and will brief Parliament at 3.30 pm. A meeting of senior defence officials is taking place in Delhi. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin will leave for the crash site at 5 pm.
Helicopter carrying Indian defence chief crashes.
A military helicopter carrying Indian defence chief General Bipin Rawat crashed in southern India on Wednesday, according to military officials.#GeneralBipinRawat #bipinrawat #India pic.twitter.com/G9ReBHVEGn— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) December 8, 2021
The 63-year-old chief of defence staff was travelling in a Russian-made Mi-17V5 chopper that “met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu”, the Indian Air Force said on Twitter.
General Rawat had taken a flight from Delhi to Sulur earlier today and that flight manifest had listed nine people. The flight from Sulur included five more, possibly crew.
A helicopter carrying India’s defence chief General Bipin Rawat has crashed in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the air force said.#Generalbipinrawat #India #defencechief #India pic.twitter.com/7CAPGOrFkz
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) December 8, 2021
The crash took place in the Nilgiris shortly after the Russian-made Mi-17 V5 chopper took off from the army base in Sulur in Coimbatore for the Defence Staff Services College in Wellington.
Rawat is India’s first chief of defence staff, a position that the Indian government established in 2019, and is seen as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Here is the list of people who were on board the chopper that crashed:
Gen Bipin Rawat
Mrs Madhulika Rawat
Brig LS Lidder, SM,VSM
Lt Col Harjinder Singh
NK Gursewak Singh
NK Jitendra Kumar
Vivek Kumar
B Sai Teja
Hav Satpal
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
_____________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
