KARACHI: Indian Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat alongwith 11 other voyagers lost their lives when the IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter they were travelling in crashed due to bad weather or technical fault in Tamil Nadu Wednesday (8th of December, 2021).
Indian Air Force, took to the Twitter to confirm the deaths: “With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident.”
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh stated: “My heart goes out to the families of those who lost their loved ones in this accident. Praying for the speedy recovery of Gp Capt Varun Singh, who is currently under treatment at the Military Hospital, Wellington.”
Earlier, Indian Air Force (IAF) has taken to the Twitter to inform that: “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.”
Though the official list available to NPTV shows nine passengers, according to Indian authorities there were 14 people on-board.
Indian Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat were also voyaging in the chopper that went down somewhere between Coimbatore & Sulur in Tamil Nadu.
Sources have informed that the CDS was going to the Defence Services Staff College from Sulur Air Force Base in Coimbatore to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course today (Wednesday 8th of December, 2021). The chopper crashed some ten kms while descending.
Other victims include Brig LS Lidder, Lt Col Harjinder Singh, NK Gursewak Singh, NK Jitendra Kr, L/Naik Vivek Kumar, L/Naik B Sai Teja & Hav Satpal.
According to sources seriously injured voyagers had been taken for treatment at Wellington cantonment in Nilgiris district. Nevertheless, 13 deaths have been confirmed.
Indian Air Force, informing about the 14th person onboard, Tweeted: “Gp Capt Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC with injuries is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington.”
According to sources Group Captain Varun Singh (the sole survivor of the crash), is on life support at a military hospital and doctors all efforts are being made to save his life.
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It may be recalled that a close friend of PM Modi, the the 63-year-old 4-star General Bipin Rawat happened to be the first Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), a post created in 2019.
According to Indian Air Force the Russia-made: “Mi-17 V5 helicopter is an upgrade of the Mi-17 helicopter; it’s a medium-lift attack helicopter. It is equipped with state-of-the-art avionics and on board navigation systems. The agile machine carries substantial and effective firepower.”
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DG ISPR Tweeted: “General Nadeem Raza, CJCSC & General Qamar Javed Bajwa, COAS express condolences on tragic death of CDS General BipinRawat, his wife and loss of precious lives in a helicopter crash in India.”
Indian Military personnel carry the coffin of CDS.
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