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India defence chief's body arrives in Delhi after helicopter crash
By AFP - December 9, 2021 @ 11:31pm
Army officers carry the coffins containing the mortal remains of India's defense chief General Bipin Rawat and other 12 victims who lost their lives in a helicopter crash a day earlier, during a tribute ceremony at Palam Air Force station in New Delhi. -AFP PIC
NEW DELHI: The body of Indian defence chief General Bipin Rawat arrived in New Delhi on Thursday, one day after he and 12 others were killed in a helicopter crash near a military academy.
Rawat, 63, was travelling with his wife and other senior officers when their aircraft crashed in a forest in southern Tamil Nadu state, killing all but one soldier on board.
His body arrived in the capital for Friday's funeral after a solemn ceremony near the accident site at an army base, where an honour guard laid wreaths by the coffins of the victims.
"The last rites of the Chief of Defence Staff will be performed with full military honours," defence minister Rajnath Singh told parliament.
Rawat was India's first chief of defence staff, a position that the government established in 2019, and was seen as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He was an outspoken and polarising but hugely popular officer who came from a military family and had already survived a helicopter accident in 2015, with minor injuries.
The general was headed to the Defence Services Staff College to address students and faculty on Wednesday when the Mi-17 chopper crashed in foggy conditions.
India's air force is investigating what caused the accident.
"We rescued as many people as we could. But it was very difficult," said Sahayaraj, an eyewitness to the crash. "The whole area was on fire and we couldn't go too close to it."
Captain Varun Singh, the sole survivor of the crash, remained in critical condition and had been flown to Bangalore to continue his treatment at a military hospital, local media reported. – AFP
Defence Chief General Bipin Rawat, Wife Among 13 Killed In Chopper Crash
General Bipin Rawat: The Indian Air Force had confirmed a little before 2 pm that an Mi-17 V5 helicopter with General Rawat on board had "met with an accident near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu".
General Bipin Rawat was also the head of the newly-created Department of Military Affairs
General Bipin Rawat, India's first Chief of Defence Staff, and his wife died on Wednesday after a military chopper crashed in Tamil Nadu, killing 13 on board. The only survivor, an Air Force Group Captain, is being treated for severe burns.
"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," the Indian Air Force (IAF) tweeted.
The person being treated at the military hospital in Wellington is "Group Captain Varun Singh", said the Air Force.
The IAF had confirmed a little before 2 pm that an Mi-17 V5 helicopter with General Rawat on board had "met with an accident near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu".
The helicopter crashed shortly after it took off from the Air Force base in Sulur at 11.45 am, Coimbatore, for Wellington in the Nilgiri Hills.
The General was heading to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington to address the faculty and students.
It was making its descent and would have landed in 10 more minutes when it came down, barely 10 km from a road. The Air Force has ordered an Inquiry into what happened.
Videos showed steaming wreckage scattered on a hillside and rescuers struggling through smoke and fire to locate bodies. Charred bodies were pulled out from under mangled metal and fallen trees.
The Defence Minister called General Rawat's death an "irreparable loss" to the country and the forces.
General Rawat, 63, took charge as India's first Chief of Defence Staff in January 2020. The position was created to integrate the three services - the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
The Chief of Defence Staff is the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and has to be the main military adviser to the Defence Minister besides giving impartial advice to the political leadership.
A former Army Chief, General Rawat was also appointed the head of the newly-created Department of Military Affairs.
The general joined the army as a second lieutenant in 1978 and had four decades of service behind him, having commanded forces in Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Actual Control bordering China.
Many former army chiefs expressed grief; they described the Mi-17 double engine chopper as a very stable aircraft used for VVIP flights.
Source : NDTV
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