Rudraprayag, June 15 (H.S.): A helicopter returning from Kedarnath to Guptkashi crashed in Gauri Mai Khark above Gaurikund, resulting in the deaths of seven individuals, including a 23-month-old girl. Bad weather is believed to have caused the crash. The Aryan Heli Company’s helicopter took off from Kedarnath at 5:21 AM, but four minutes later, it collided with a tree due to adverse conditions. All six passengers and the pilot died instantly. The victims included the helicopter's pilot, Captain Rajveer Singh Chauhan from Rajasthan, Vikram Rawat from Ukhimath in Uttarakhand, Vinod Devi and Trishti Singh from Uttar Pradesh, Rajkumar Suresh Jaiswal, Shraddha Rajkumar Jaiswal, and two-year-old Kashi from Maharashtra.

Rescue operations were conducted by NDRF, SDRF, DDRF, and police teams, who recovered all the bodies and found severely charred helicopter debris at the crash site. Rahul Choubey, the District Tourism Officer of Rudraprayag, confirmed the helicopter's sudden collision with a tree. Families of the deceased have been notified, and District Magistrate Dr. Saurabh Gaharwar stated that the bodies are being processed for further action. This incident marks the third helicopter accident related to the Kedarnath Yatra this year.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar