Six people, including the pilot, have reportedly gone missing from a helicopter in the Joshimath-Badrinath route in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand and a search and rescue operation involving Uttarakhand police and Army is said to have been launched.
As per the preliminary information, the helicopter has departed from Badrinath between 2.15 pm and 3 pm while it was snowing. It later lost contact near Hathi Parvat in the air in the area, leading to worry over crew safety.
Rescue Teams Deployed
Army, police and personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed to find the missing helicopter and make the situation assessment.The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) officials and police in addition to an army force, have been deployed to search for the missing helicopter and to make a situation assessment.
A local health department official is also on scene as an emergency could arise.
Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Chandra Shekhar Vashishth of Joshimath confirmed that it was being considered a crash among various options.
Yes, it was possible there could have been an accident, Vashishth said, noting that personnel from the Army, SDRF, police and the health department were en route to the area where the accident might have occurred. He also indicated he was on his way to the site:
Weather Conditions Raise Concerns
The helicopter is believed to have gone out of sight in snowy conditions, casting doubt on the crash. But the cause of communications loss is not yet determined.
Police seeks helicopter’s location, details of what occurred after it left Badrinath.
Officials have yet to say what caused the helicopter to crash or if they could identify the six men who were aboard, or of their condition.
More details should be available following the arrival of rescue operations and a situation assessment.