Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The incident occurs days after an India airplane crashed in the west city of Ahmedabad, killing every 242 on board except one.
Seven people, including a toddler, were killed in the state of northern Uttarakhand in India when a helicopter transported them for a Hindu pilgrimage crashed into Himalayas, according to officials.
Managers of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority told journalists that the helicopter had taken off around 5:30 am (00 GMT) Sunday from the city of the Kedarnath Temple for Guptkashi, a city about 37 km (23 miles), but crashed shortly after takeoff.
The deceased was identified as the pilot, Captain Rajveer Singh Chauhan and the passengers Vikram Rawat, Vinod Devi, Trishti Singh, Rajkumar Jaiswal, his wife Shraddha Jaiswal and their two -year -old daughter, Kashi.
The bodies were seriously burned in a fire that followed the accident, the authorities said.
The response force to Uttarakhand disasters told the Ani news agency that the accident site was located in a distant and dense forest zone, adding that the rescue operation was underway in coordination with the local police.
#WATCH | Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand: today, a helicopter operating a flight on the Shri Kedarnath sector in Guptkashi was involved in an accident. In total, 07 people were on board this helicopter, who died on site. The rescue teams were immediately sent under the direction … pic.twitter.com/dfsa7glmri
– Years (@ani) June 15, 2025
Officials said the accident would have been caused by poor weather conditions.
In an article on X, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, described the incident as “very sad”.
Kedarnath, standing at an altitude of 3,584 meters (11,759 feet), is home to one of the four most sacred Hindu Sanctuaries and receives tens of thousands of pilgrims each year during the summer season.
To avoid arduous trekking on the mountainous terrain, wealthy pilgrims often use helicopter charter services. But misadventures are common in the treacherous region, where sudden weather changes and high altitude flight conditions may present risks.
On June 7, a helicopter operating in the Kedarnath valley made an emergency landing on a highway due to a technical fault shortly after takeoff. The pilot was injured, but the five passengers on board were unscathed.
Last month, a helicopter crashed in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, killing six people, including the pilot. A person survived.
According to Indian media, the Sunday crash was the fifth incident of this type in less than two months. He also came a few days after a The Air India plane crashed In the city of Ahmedabad, killing every 242 passengers except one on board and dozens of others on the ground.
