Uttarakhand: Helicopter ferrying Kedarnath pilgrims crashes; 7 dead

A helicopter ferrying pilgrims back from the Kedarnath temple crashed on Tuesday amid poor visibility, killing all seven people onboard.

The chopper burst into flames close to Garud Chatti and Jungle Chatti, Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh said.

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief and ordered a detailed inquiry into the crash.

The chopper burst into flames near Jungle Chatti en route to the shrine.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said his ministry is constantly monitoring the situation.

"The helicopter crash in Kedarnath is extremely unfortunate. We are in touch with the state government to ascertain the magnitude of the loss, and are constantly monitoring the situation," he said in a tweet.

The chopper is reported to belong to Aryan Aviation and was taking the pilgrims to Kedarnath.

"According to the preliminary information, a Bell 407 helicopter VT-RPN crashed on the way from Kedarnath to Guptkashi, possibly due to bad weather," a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.

A police official said they were awaiting more information.

Teams of SDRF and NDRF have been dispatched to the accident spot to carry out relief operations.

With agencies inputs