Multi-agency rescue teams resumed operations early Saturday to retrieve the bodies of six people killed in a helicopter crash near Chayee village in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. The recovery operation, which was halted late Friday due to difficult terrain and poor visibility, began again at 5 am.
Personnel from the Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local police are part of the operation. The helicopter crashed near a hill in the Marwari area of Jyotirmath, formerly known as Joshimath.
Jyotirmath Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Shekhar Vashisht said additional teams had been deployed on Saturday, while some personnel remained near the crash site through the night. The Army unit that first reached the spot had also alerted district authorities about Himalayan bear activity in the surrounding forest.
“We dispatched additional teams today, while several personnel stayed near the crash site overnight. Given the tough terrain, the retrieval process will take time,” Vashisht said.
Bodies to be brought down through safest route
Rescue personnel are working to identify a safe route to bring the bodies down to the nearest road head. Depending on the terrain, they may be transported to Pandukeshwar or Chayee village before being taken to Jyotirmath, around 12 km away.
“The bodies will be moved to either Pandukeshwar or Chayee village, depending on which path is safer through the tough terrain. From there, they will be transported to Jyotirmath, around 12 km away. Their post-mortem examinations will be conducted thereafter,” the SDM said.
Poor visibility suspected to have caused crash
The helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation and registered under call sign VT-HCX, was flying from Badrinath to the Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun when it crashed on Friday afternoon.
The aircraft took off from Badrinath at around 1.12 pm but lost radio contact shortly afterwards while flying over the Jyotirmath valley. It subsequently disappeared from tracking systems.
Rain and severely reduced visibility along the route are suspected to have contributed to the accident. However, the exact cause has not yet been established.
The deceased have been identified as pilot Capt. Himanshu Sabharwal (48), a Delhi resident, and five passengers from Karnataka -- Pratapa (41), Arun Salunke (44), VB Shankar Gowda (39), Sudhir K (50) and HS Nataraja (51).
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has directed senior officials to conduct a detailed inquiry into the crash, including an examination of technical and weather-related factors.