Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, passed away in an IAF chopper crash in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor on Wednesday.
According to ANI, an Army chopper crashed in Tamil Nadu with Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, his staff, and family members on board. Images on local TV have shown smoke and flames rising from the wreckage.
It appears that four people perished in the Nilgiris crash and two survived. Details are still unknown, but the Mi-series chopper took off from an army base in Sulur shortly before the crash happened.
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As local TV channels showed images of the wreckage in the hills and rescuers in the thick smoke and fire, images of the chopper headed towards Wellington’s defence establishment appeared.
Deeply anguished by the sudden demise of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other Armed Forces personnel in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident today in Tamil Nadu.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) December 8, 2021
His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our Armed Forces and the country.
तमिलनाडु में बड़ा हादसा: कुन्नूर में सेना का हेलीकॉप्टर क्रैश, रिपोर्ट्स में दावा- सीडीएस जनरल बिपिन रावत भी सवार थे। pic.twitter.com/vs8TfV8rwC
— Arun Yadav (@beingarun28) December 8, 2021
INQUIRY ORDERED
The Indian Air Force confirmed the incident on Twitter and said an inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.
“An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident,” the IAF tweeted.
An Army helicopter carrying about 3-4 senior officials including ‘top’ officers crashed near Coonoor in the nearby hilly Nilgiris district on Wednesday. According to police sources, the chopper was on its way from the Sulur IAF base to the Defence Services College (DSC) at Wellington when it crashed. Emergency and rescue operation teams are present at the spot. Two onboard seriously injured and taken to a hospital
Updates:
- Six 108 ambulances are present at the spot.
- Two seriously injured and have been taken to the hospital.
- Indian Air Force’s official statement on the accident
- An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.