In a helicopter crashes near Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand, 7 People were killed

A helicopter carrying pilgrims from Guptkashi to Kedarnath crashed on Tuesday amid poor visibility

A choper ferrying pilgrims from Kedarnath temple to Guptkashi here crashed into a hill due to poor visibility on Tuesday, killing all six pilgrims and the pilot on the spot.

The helicopter — Bell 407 (VT-RPN) and operated by Aryan Aviation — burst into flames at around 11.45 am at Dev Darshini in Garud Chatti, Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh said.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force, disaster response forces of Uttarakhand and Delhi, and police brought the bodies to the Kedarnath helipad.

The Rudraprayag disaster management office identified the victims as Poorva Ramanuj (26), Kriti Brar (30) and Urvi Brar (25) from Gujarat, and Sujata (56), Prem Kumar and Kala (60) from Tamil Nadu. Pilot Anil Singh (57) hailed from Maharashtra, it said.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia condoled the loss of lives.