Guwahati: An Mi17 V5 Helicopter of the IAF with four people on board, including Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, crashed in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor on Wednesday.
Sources said that at least three injured people from the crash have been taken to a nearby hospital while four dead bodies has been recovered, but their identities are not confirmed yet.
Bodies recovered from the site of the crash (between Coimbatore and Sulur where a military chopper crashed).
Reportedly, there were around 14 people on board travelling along with Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat and some of them have been identified as
Brg. LS Lidder,SM, VSM, Lt. Col Harijinder Sing, NK Gurswak Singh, NK Jitendra Kumar, L/NK Vivek Kumar, L/NK B Sai Teja and Hav Satpal
The three who have been rescued suffered serious injuries and have been taken to the hospital al Wellington cantonment in Nilgiris district.
According to sources, Rawat’s staff and some family members were also on board in the Mi-series helicopter.
Rawat is the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff appointed on January 1, 2020. He was appointed the head of the newly created Department of Military Affairs in one of the most significant reorganization in Defence Ministry in decades.
He had served as the Chief of the Army for three years before taking over as the CDS.
An inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, the IAF said on its official Twitter handle.
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. pic.twitter.com/cnKn7RNFeR— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) December 8, 2021
Further details awaited.
