Dehradun: Seven people were feared dead after a chopper en route to Kedarnath Shrine crashed in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district, the officials said on Sunday.
The pilot is among those feared dead in the crash.
The visuals showed the wreckage of the helicopter in flames in an open field. The crash occurred between Gaurikund and Triyuginarayan while en route to the shrine.
According to officials, the chopper belonged to Aryan Aviation, and there were 7 people on board.
The officials believe bad weather may be the cause of the tragic incident.
Sources said that the helicopter took off even after the weather was visibly bad. “To navigate the weather, the helicopter gained altitude, and then the incident happened,” sources said.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed anguish over the chopper crash and said that the SDRF and other rescue teams have been put on the rescue operation.
“Very sad news has been received about a helicopter crash in Rudraprayag district. SDRF, local administration, and other rescue teams are engaged in relief and rescue operations. I pray to Baba Kedar for the safety of all the travellers,” he posted on X.
This comes days after an ill-fated Air India flight 171 crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after taking off for London. 241 people, including the cabin crew, died in the crash on June 12. There was merely one survivor in the incident, a British national.
The horrific videos of the crash surfaced online, sending shockwaves across the country and the world. The black box of the aircraft was recovered on Friday evening, and the decoding of the data is underway.
