18 bodies from IAF chopper crash found

Bodies of 18 victims who died in an Indian Air Force helicopter crash in flood-hit Uttarakhand have been found, said Ajay Chadha, director general of ITBP, Thursday.

"Eighteen bodies of the soldiers, who were in the crashed chopper Mi-17, have been recovered," said Chadha. Ten of the bodies have been brought to Gauchar, which is being used as an air base for rescue operations.

Due to more than 90 percent burns, it was very difficult to identify the bodies, said another Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) official.

Earlier, an ITBP official told IANS that bodies of 19 people, out of the 20 travelling in the chopper, were recovered.

The crashed helicopter was carrying 20 personnel including five from the IAF, six from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and nine from the National Disaster Response Force.

The accident took place at 2 p.m. Tuesday in an area around Gaurikund when the chopper was returning from Badrinath.