Chopper crashes near Badrinath; one killed, seven injured 

Dehradun: At least one person was killed and seven others were injured when an eight-seater chopper crashed near the Badrinath shrine in Uttarakhand on Saturday morning.

The incident took place when the Mumbai-based aviation company's chopper was carrying a pilgrim family back to Haridwar from the shrine after their 'darshan'. According to the officials, "The helicopter with eight passengers on board, including three staff members took off normally but soon lost balance and crashed in the nearby thickets."

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The engineer of the chopper - Vikram Lamba, a resident of Assam, fearing for his life jumped mid-air and was sliced by the rotor of the helicopter. He died on the spot. The passengers who sustained minor injuries have been identified as Jashodaben, Naveen Bhai Patel, Leelaben Patel, Harishbhai and Ramesh Bhai.

• The pilgrim family was from Vadodara in Gujarat and after first aid they have been sent by road to Haridwar.

• The pilot Sanjay Vange is a resident of Pune and co-pilot Alka Shukla hails from Kanpur. They escaped with minor injuries.

Officials stated that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) S. Ramaswamy has been informed of the accident. He has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.

Commissioner of the Garhwal region, Vinod Sharma informed that Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Joshimath has been assigned the probe.

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