In a horrific air crash, 20 people, including personnel from the Indian Air Force, National Disaster Response Force and the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police were feared dead in an IAF helicopter crash on Tuesday.
The IAF confirmed that eight persons, including five IAF personnel, had died when an IAF Mi-17 V5 helicopter crashed north of Gaurikund, Uttarakhand, while returning from Kedarnath to Gauchar on Tuesday afternoon. The helicopter was on the return leg of a rescue mission. According to NDRF sources, it was carrying aviation turbine fuel to sustain the rescue operations of the IAF in the hill-state. It burst into flames after crashing.
National Disaster Management Authority vice-chairman M. Sashidhar Reddy said, “There were 20 people on board, including NDRF, ITBP and IAF personnel.”