Toddler among 7 killed in India helicopter crash
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The pilot and all six passengers were killed when the helicopter came down during the flight from Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand state.
PHOTO: AFP
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GAURIKUND – Seven people including a toddler were killed on June 15 in India when a helicopter ferrying Hindu pilgrims from a shrine crashed in the Himalayas, officials said.
The accident comes as relatives mourn those who died
In the June 15 incident, the helicopter pilot and all six passengers were killed when the aircraft came down during the flight from Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand state, disaster response official Nandan Singh Rajwar told AFP.
The crash was likely caused by bad weather, according to state tourism official Rahul Chaubey.
The incident prompted the Indian civil aviation authorities to suspend chopper services to shrines in the Himalayas, he added.
The state’s chief minister, Mr Pushkar Singh Dhami, said there will be “zero tolerance for any compromise with passenger safety” in a post on X.
Mr Dhami said in a statement that he has ordered an inquiry into the cause of the crash.
The authorities will also examine helicopter pilots and operators, and “only those pilots who have a long experience of flying helicopters in high Himalayan regions will be allowed”, he said.
Helicopter service for the pilgrimage will be resumed only after a meeting with all the helicopter operators, Mr Dhami added.
The Bell 407 helicopter, operated by Aryan Aviation, took off at 5.19am local time on June 15, India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
Pilgrims flock to Kedarnath temple, which stands at an altitude of 3,584m, and other revered Himalayan shrines during summer, when it is possible to access them.
Helicopter charter companies serve wealthy pilgrims who want to visit mountainous shrines while avoiding arduous trekking.
But there have been multiple mishaps this season, including a crash in May in which six people were killed. In a separate incident in June, a pilot was forced to make an emergency landing on a highway after the helicopter developed a technical fault. AFP, REUTERS
