At least six people were killed when a helicopter carrying pilgrims from the Kedarnath shrine to Phata village crashed near Garudchatti in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, said State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) commandant Manikant Mishra.
Officials said that SDRF and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been rushed to the crash site, which is around two km from Kedarnath Dham, for the rescue operations. They added that the chopper crashed around 11:40am.
Mishra cited preliminary information and said foggy conditions and poor visibility could have led to the crash.
In a tweet, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia called the crash extremely unfortunate and said that they were in touch with the state government to ascertain the magnitude of the loss. He added that they were constantly monitoring the situation.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered a probe into the crash. “Very sad news about the casualties in the unfortunate helicopter crash at Garuda Chatti near Kedarnath. SDRF and district administration teams have reached the spot for relief and rescue work. A detailed inquiry has been ordered into this tragic incident.”
In New Delhi, aviation ministry officials said the Bell 407 helicopter with six passengers and one pilot on board belonged to Delhi-based Aryan Aviation. They added possibly bad weather led to the crash.