On Wednesday, a helicopter carrying General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence, and 14 army personnel crashed in Coonoor in the nearby hilly Nilgiri district on its route from an air force base to the Army Defence Services College in Tamil Nadu.
Four people have been confirmed dead. However, rescue operations are underway.“An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu,” the Indian Air Force tweeted on Wednesday.
Videos shown on Indian news channels showed the chopper engulfed in flames as locals attempted to extinguish it in a densely forested region near the college.
