CDS Bipin Rawat helicopter crash: 13 out of 14 on board dead, DNA test to reveal identities
Chennai : An Army chopper (IAF Mi-17V5) carrying Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, his wife and seven other officials crashed today morning near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. Reportedly, 13 out of 14 onboard have lost their lives in the tragic accident. There is still no information on Gen Bipin Rawat’s condition.
Earlier, the Indian Air Force took to Twitter and wrote, “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,” the Indian Air Force tweeted.
Complete list of passengers on board:
Gen Bipin Rawat
Mrs Madhulika Rawat
Brig LS Lidder
Lt Col Harjinder Singh
NK Gursewak Singh
NK Jitendra Kumar
L/NK Vivek Kumar
LINK B Sai Teja
Hav Satpal
According to media reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a Cabinet Committee on Security Meet at 6:30 PM at his residence. Rajnath Singh will give a brief about the accident in the Parliament on Thursday.
Visuals available from the accident site
News agency ANI has shared initial visuals of the accident site and the IAF helicopter that was carrying Bipin Rawat and his wife.
