Head of Defense Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and his significant other are among the 13 dead after the Indian Air Force helicopter they were going in smashed close to Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
The IAF affirmed the news in a tweet Wednesday evening.
There were 14 people ready, including the team.
The mishap occurred in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram region close to Coonoor in the bumpy Nilgiris region supposedly because of low perceivability in the midst of hazy conditions.
The IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter was airborne from Sulur for Wellington, where CDS Gen Rawat, alongside Chief of Army Staff MM Naravane, was scheduled to partake in an occasion at the Defense Staff College.
The accident occurred a good ways off of around 10 km from the helipad where it was to land.
“An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat , met with a mishap today close to Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An Inquiry has been requested to find out the reason for the mishap,” the Indian Air Force tweeted not long after the mishap.
Television visuals showed the chopper on fire, clearly under the effect of the accident. Salvage work force, alongside Army staff, were seen associated with clearing the region.
In the interim, the safeguard serve had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the chopper crash.
