Uttarakhand : 5 pilgrims, pilot killed in helicopter crash near Kedarnath

5 pilgrims, pilot killed in helicopter crash near Kedarnath

A helicopter carrying Kedarnath pilgrims from  Phata village in Uttarakhand crashed near Garuda Chatti on Tuesday.

The helicopter headed for Kedarnath crashed soon after takeoff. The Uttarakhand government said that 7 people including 2 pilots and 5 passengers were killed in the accident.

The Bell-407 helicopter (VT-RPN) belonged to Aryan Aviation and crashed around 11:45 am.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed grief over the incident and said that the situation is being monitored.

“The helicopter crash at Kedarnath is very unfortunate. We are in touch with the state government to ascertain the extent of the loss and are continuously monitoring the situation," Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a tweet.

The helicopter crash in Kedarnath is extremely unfortunate. We are in touch with the State government to ascertain the magnitude of the loss, and are constantly monitoring the situation.

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) October 18, 2022

Rescue teams rushed to the spot and tried to recover the bodies, but bad weather and snowfall hampered the operation.

The cause of the crash is yet to be determined, however, fog and poor visibility are said to have played a role as footage from the crash site suggested bad weather.

Nine private helicopter services are said to ply pilgrim routes from  Kedarnath temple. Guptkashi, Phata, and Sirsiare the three districts of Rudraprayag district where pilgrims visit the Kedarnath temple by helicopter.

#WATCH | Uttarakhand: A helicopter carrying Kedarnath pilgrims from Phata crashes, casualties feared; administration team left for the spot for relief and rescue work. Further details awaited pic.twitter.com/sDf4x1udlJ

— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2022

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