Helicopter from Badrinath goes missing in Chamoli; six aboard reported dead, search on

A helicopter that took off from Badrinath Dham in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district has gone missing, and information has emerged that it crashed between Badrinath and Joshimath. Contact with the helicopter has been lost and its location is not known, so local administration and disaster management teams are on alert. Six people are reported to have died in the accident.

The Trans Bharat company's 'HCX' helicopter took off at 1.12 pm on Friday from the state government helipad at Badrinath Dham for Sahastradhara in Dehradun. Within 15 minutes of take-off, its ATC and RT contact was lost. Efforts to reach it have been continuing since, but its whereabouts had not been established.

There were six people on board, including the pilot. The pilot has been named as Himanshu. The passengers included Prathapa, Arun Salunke, Shankargouda V. G., Sudhir K. and H. S. Nagaraja.

According to preliminary information, the helicopter is feared to have hit a mountain rock and crashed. Its last location was near Chai village in Joshimath. A rescue and relief team has left for the spot with the SDM. An SDRF team is climbing the mountain to search.

Disaster management officer Nandkishore Joshi said a report had come in of something white on fire in the forest above the JP dam. Another helicopter has been sent on an aerial survey to verify this and assess the situation.

Two more helicopters are being used to look for the missing aircraft, and both are conducting search operations in the same area. The terrain between Badrinath and Joshimath is mountainous, so the challenge before the administration is big. Efforts are also under way to establish exactly where contact was lost, how many passengers were on board and what the last location was.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief over the incident. He said sad information had been received of a helicopter crash near Chai village, Joshimath. According to the Chief Minister, the district administration, the disaster management department and the SDRF are carrying out rescue work together, and he is keeping a constant watch on developments.

Instructions have been given to airlift seriously injured people at once to a bigger hospital for further treatment. The Chief Minister prayed that all the helicopter's passengers are safe.