IAF chopper carrying CDS Rawat, wife crashes [watch]

Chennai/Bhubaneswar: An Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper carrying senior officials crashed between Coimbatore and Sulur in Tamil Nadu today morning.

The Indian Air Force confirmed that an IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) 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, the IAF statement added.

CDS Bipin Rawat and wife Madhulika Rawat along with seven defence personnel were among the 14 persons onboard the IAF chopper that crashed at around 12.20 pm. There were five crew members in the chopper.

The officials, who were with the CDS and his wife onboard, were Brig LS Lidder, SM, VSM; Lt Col Harjinder Singh; NK Gursewak Singh; NK Jitendra Kumar; L/NK Vivek Kumar; L/NK B Sai Teja and Hav Satpal.

Rawat, his wife and staff were heading to Wellington in Udhagamandalam, where a Defence Services Staff College is located.

 

Images showed thick smoke and fire billowing out of the wreckage in the hills and rescuers at work.

Four people are dead and two have survived in the IAF chopper crash, reported NDTV.

Bodies recovered from the site of the crash have been taken to Military Hospital, Wellington in Tamil Nadu, stated news agency ANI.

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