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The bodies of General Bipin Rawat and 12 others killed in a helicopter crash will be taken to the capital, New Delhi.
The bodies of the Indian head of defense and 12 others died in a helicopter crash He will be taken to New Delhi, where a senior general will be killed in full military honor, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said.
General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 12 defense personnel were on their way to a military university in southern India on Wednesday when an Air Force helicopter was flying down near the town of Coonoor.
Only 14 of the people on board were killed in the crash. They are investigating the cause of the accident.
Rawat, 63, has been appointed India’s first defense chief of staff by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in late 2019. The position was created with the aim of integrating the army, navy and air force.
In a brief statement to parliament, Defense Minister Singh said the Mi-17 V5 helicopter took off from Sulur Air Base at 11:48 a.m. Wednesday. The base lost contact with the plane at 12:15 a.m. seven minutes before it was scheduled to land in a mountainous military area.
“The locals saw a fire in the forest near Coonoor and went to the spot where they saw the wreckage of a military helicopter engulfed in fire,” Singh said.
Rawat, who served in the army for more than 40 years, was killed in full military honor, Singh said on Thursday.
The only survivor of the accident, the captain of the air force, is in a military hospital. “Every effort is being made to save his life,” Singh said.
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