A helicopter carrying passengers to a pilgrimage site in India has crashed in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand killing six people on board including the pilot, with one other person injured
Six passengers have been killed after a helicopter carrying people to a pilgrimage site crashed into a mountainside. The aircraft was travelling on the Gangotri route in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, India, when it came down in a forested area near Gangnani on Thursday morning.
It has now been confirmed that six people on board including the pilot Captain Robin Singh have tragically been killed while another person has been injured. Eyewitnesses said the helicopter collided with a tree, prompting locals to begin sifting through the wreckage in an effort to assist any potential survivors. The crash site is located 200-250 meters down a gorge on a hillside near a village.
Locals quickly arrived on the scene before rescue teams could reach the crash site in difficult terrain. The chopper had departed from Sahastradhara helipad and was en route to Kharsali when it crashed with four males and two females on board as well as the pilot.
It is understood the passengers were pilgrims visiting the Char Dham, a set of four Hindu pilgrimage sites in India. The helicopter, operated by Aero Trans Service Pvt, crashed at around 8.40am near to Ganganani Nagraja Temple.
Four of the passengers were from Mumbai and the other two from Andhra Pradesh, according to local reports. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the State Disaster Response Force and district administration teams had arrived at the scene to provide relief and conduct rescue operations.
“Very sad news has been received about some people getting injured in a helicopter crash near Gangaani in Uttarkashi. SDRF and district administration teams have immediately reached the spot for relief and rescue work,” Mr Dhami said in a post on X.
“May God grant peace to the souls of those who died in the accident and give strength to the bereaved families to bear this immense loss.
“I have instructed the administration to provide all possible help to the injured and investigate the accident. I am constantly in touch with the officials in this regard and every situation is being monitored.”
And in a later post he wrote: “It is our top priority to make the journey of every devotee coming for Chardham Yatra safe, smooth and memorable.
“We are improving the arrangements related to the Yatra every year, this is the reason why the number of devotees is setting new records every year.”
The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation. The District Magistrate of Uttarkashi is en route to the crash site to assess the situation.
This comes after the survivors of a plane crash needed to spend 36 hours perched on top of the aircraft after it plummeted into an alligator-filled swamp.
The survivors, three women, a child and the pilot, were found by local fishermen after it crashed into the Amazonas region of Bolivia. Officials launched a rescue operation on Thursday after the plane vanished off radars in central Bolivia.