Six killed in chopper crash in Uttarakhand, helicopter services to Kedarnath halted

Lucknow: Six tourists were killed in a helicopter crash in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on Thursday morning.

According to the sources, the chopper, which was reportedly carrying seven people, including the pilot, crashed near Ganganani near the Gangotri National Highway around nine in the morning.

The ill-fated chopper was on its way to Harshil, a scenic spot, from Sahastradhara, another tourist spot near Uttarakhand’s capital of Dehradun.

Sources said that chopper services to the famous Kedarnath shrine from the three helipads-Phata, Sirsi and Guptkashi- were stopped following the crash.

Rescue teams, including the SDRF, rushed to the spot and launched rescue operations, sources said.

Reports said that there were seven people, including the pilot, on board in the chopper. There was one survivor, the reports said. The pilot was among the deceased, reports said.

Unconfirmed reports said that four tourists were from Mumbai and two from Andhra Pradesh in the ill-fated chopper.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushker Singh Dhami expressed grief over the incident. He has instructed the officials to provide the best possible medical care to the injured.

On Monday also, a chopper, which was on way from Badrinath to Dehradun, had made an emergency landing at Gopeshwar owing to bad weather.

A large number of pilgrims have been arriving in the state for the ongoing ‘Chardham Yatra’ (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri) and many pilgrims use the chopper services.