Two killed as chopper crashes in flood-hit Kedarnath

DEHRADUN: The pilot and the co-pilot of a private chopper were killed as it crashed minutes after taking off from flood-hit Kedarnath in Uttarakhand on Wednesday.
IG (law and order) R S Meena blamed zero visibility due to heavy fog at a high altitude of over 11,000 feet for the crash and identified the two deceased as Captain Jagjeet Singh Dhaliwal (49) and Abhay Ranjan (42).
“Dhaliwal, an ex-army Colonel, belonged to Ludhiana in Punjab and was based in Noida. Ranjan was from Bihar,’’ he said.
He said their bodies would be flown to their natives places. “We are trying to contact their families to handover the bodies.’’
An eight-member rescuers team recovered the bodies from a 30-feet deep ravine near Garud Chatti two hours after the crash and flew them to Guptkashi.
DGP Satvrat Bansal said the chopper was on its way to Garud Chatti and carrying supplies for the policemen posted there. “Another chopper had earlier reached the destination safely,’’ he said
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna expressed shocked over the crash and announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of the deceased.
The helicopter crash is the second such incident in Uttarakhand since floods ravaged the state in June. An IAF Mi-17 V5 chopper on a rescue mission had crashed near Guptkashi, killing 20 people on board on June 25. The pilot of a private chopper, carrying relief material, was killed after it crashed in Gaurikund four days earlier.