Uttarakhand: 6 killed after chopper with 7 on board crashes in Uttarkashi

Six passengers were killed and one sustained serious injuries in a helicopter crash near Gangnani in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on Thursday (May 7).

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his concern over the incident, saying, “SDRF and district administration teams have immediately reached the spot for relief and rescue work. I have instructed the administration to provide all possible help to the injured and investigate the accident.”

Victims of the crash

The deceased include three pilgrims from Mumbai – Kala Soni, 61, Vijaya Reddy, 57, and Ruchi Aggarwal, 56 –Radha Aggarwal, 79, from Uttar Pradesh and Vedavati Kumari, 49, from Andhra Pradesh.

Bhaskar (51), also from Andhra Pradesh, was rushed to the hospital with injuries.

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The pilot, Captain Robin Singh (60), a Gujarat resident, also died in the crash.

Garhwal divisional commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said that as soon as news of the crash reached authorities, relief and rescue teams were mobilised and rushed to the site to assist with rescue operations and provide medical aid.

AAIB to probe crash

The officials present at the site said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will investigate the accident. As per information from the Uttarkashi police, the helicopter crashed on the Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highway at around 8:45 am.

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The helicopter was flying from Dehradun to Harsil helipad, where the tourists were supposed to cover a distance of around 30km by road towards Gangnani.

Seven people, including the pilot, were on board the helicopter of private company AeroTrans Services Pvt Ltd, one of the officials said.