• Kedarnath Helicopter Crash: The flight of faith of the devotees turned into mourning when a private company’s helicopter crashed on Sunday morning. A total of 7 people, including pilots, died in this accident, including six devotees and a 23 -month -old innocent child. The accident occurred in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, above the forests of Gaurikund.
  • Morning flight and sudden accident
  • According to the information received, the crashed helicopter is of ‘Aryan Aviation’, which flew around 5:30 am on Sunday. This helicopter was going from Kedarnath to Guptkashi. As soon as he flew, the helicopter disappeared from the radar in a few minutes and later revealed that he had crashed into the forest near Gaurikund. Local administration believes that bad weather and decrease in visibility can be the main reason for this accident.
  • Identification of those who lost their lives
  • District Disaster Management Officer of Rudraprayag Nandan Singh Rajwar said that a total of seven people were riding in the helicopter and no one survived. The dead have been identified as follows:
  • Rajkumar Suresh Jaiswal (41) – resident of Maharashtra
  • Shraddha Jaiswal (35) – his wife
  • Kashi (2 years) – Couple’s daughter
  • Vinod Devi (66) – resident of Uttar Pradesh
  • Tussathi Singh (19) – Uttar Pradesh
  • Vikram – Kedarnath resident
  • Rajveer Singh Chauhan – Pilot of helicopter
  • After the accident, local people, police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Provisional Force (SDRF) and other relief agencies reached the spot and got involved in relief and rescue operations. A video has also surfaced in which it can be seen that the flames were rising from the crashed helicopter.
  • Aerial accidents are happening continuously
  • This is the fifth helicopter crash on the Chardham Yatra route within 40 days, which has raised serious questions about the security of air travel.
  • On May 8, six people were killed when a helicopter crashed to Gangotri Dham in Uttarkashi.
  • On June 7, another helicopter going to Kedarnath had to make an emergency landing on the road due to technical fault, in which the pilot was injured, but five devotees survived safely.
  • Chief Minister expressed mourning
  • Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed deep condolences on the accident through social media. They said,
    “The very sad news of the helicopter crash has been received. All the concerned agencies are engaged in relief and rescue operations by reaching the spot.”