Helicopter with 7 on board, flying from Dehradun to Kedarnath, crashes

A passenger helicopter, with seven people on board (including the pilot), crashed in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag/Gaurikund area during a flight between Kedarnath and Guptkashi

A helicopter carrying seven people crashed near Gaurikund early Sunday morning, officials from the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) confirmed.

 

The crash occurred around 5.20 am as the chopper, en route from Shri Kedarnath Dham to Guptkashi, went down in a remote part of the region. Onboard were seven people - six pilgrims (five adults and a child) and a pilot. 

 

According to ANI, Inspector General (Garhwal Range) Rajiv Swaroop said the crash site is in a particularly inaccessible area, complicating immediate rescue efforts.  Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said to ANI, "A helicopter of Aryan Company took off from Kedarnath around 5 am for Guptkashi. But it crashed on the way, near Gauri Kund. This place is a 7 km trekking route. NDRF and SDRF teams have been sent there... According to the information received from locals, there is no possibility of anyone surviving. There were six people in this helicopter, including the pilot Chauhan. One of the passengers was a child, and one was a BKTC (Shri Badarinath Kedarnath Temples Committee) employee..."

 

Teams from the police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been dispatched and are currently at the scene conducting rescue operations.

 

According to UCADA, the passengers hailed from Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. 

 

Reacting to the incident, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on social media platform X, "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."

 

Earlier, on May 8, a helicopter en route to Gangotri Dham crashed in Uttarkashi district, killing six people.

 

Then, on June 7, a helicopter heading to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on a road shortly after take-off due to a technical fault. The pilot was injured, but all five devotees on board were safely rescued.

  (With inputs from ANI)