<p> "The chopper hit the cliff, crashed and exploded. All the five persons in the ill-fated helicopter were burnt to death," state Finance Minister K Rosaiah and Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy said here today.<br /><br />The chopper might have drifted from its path because of a large cloud formation due to inclement weather and ended up hitting the cliff, they said.<br /><br />Except the tail portion, the body of the Bell-430 helicoper of AP Aviation Corporation was reduced to bits and pieces in the mishap.<br /><br />The helicopter crashed 10 km away from Rudrakoduru on a hostile terrain and army commandos had to slither down with the help of a rope from a rescue helicopter.<br /><br />"Initially three bodies were traced and then the fourth one. It took a while to locate the fifth body. We have identified the bodies from the dresses," Director General of Police S S P Yadav said. <br /><br />The bodies were being shifted to Kurnool for post-mortem after which they will be airlifted to Hyderabad by a MI-8 helicopter of the Indian Air Force.<br /><br />The Chief Minister's body would be placed in his camp office and shifted to Lal Bahadur Stadium where it would be kept in state for people to pay homage.<br /><br />"The Chief Minister's body will be flown to his native Pulivendula town for the last rites on Friday afternoon," the Chief Secretary said.</p>
<p> "The chopper hit the cliff, crashed and exploded. All the five persons in the ill-fated helicopter were burnt to death," state Finance Minister K Rosaiah and Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy said here today.<br /><br />The chopper might have drifted from its path because of a large cloud formation due to inclement weather and ended up hitting the cliff, they said.<br /><br />Except the tail portion, the body of the Bell-430 helicoper of AP Aviation Corporation was reduced to bits and pieces in the mishap.<br /><br />The helicopter crashed 10 km away from Rudrakoduru on a hostile terrain and army commandos had to slither down with the help of a rope from a rescue helicopter.<br /><br />"Initially three bodies were traced and then the fourth one. It took a while to locate the fifth body. We have identified the bodies from the dresses," Director General of Police S S P Yadav said. <br /><br />The bodies were being shifted to Kurnool for post-mortem after which they will be airlifted to Hyderabad by a MI-8 helicopter of the Indian Air Force.<br /><br />The Chief Minister's body would be placed in his camp office and shifted to Lal Bahadur Stadium where it would be kept in state for people to pay homage.<br /><br />"The Chief Minister's body will be flown to his native Pulivendula town for the last rites on Friday afternoon," the Chief Secretary said.</p>