Arunachal Pradesh CM Dorjee dead in chopper crash

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, who went missing on Saturday on a flight from Tawang, is dead along with four others after their helicopter crashed in bad weather in the mountains and their bodies and the wreckage were located today.
The five, including two pilots, who took off in a single-engined EuroCopter B8 of Pawan Hans, perished in the crash and the bodies and wreckage of the chopper were spotted in a place between Kyela and Lobothang in the mountainous region of the state this morning.
"The Chief Minister and four others are dead," Union Minister for Development of Northeastern Region B K Handique told a press conference here this evening.
The other occupants of the helicopter were pilots Capt J S Babbar, Capt T S Mamik, Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lhamu, sister of Tawant MLA Tsewang Dhondup.
Handique said operations for recovery of the bodies were on and would continue through the night and, if necessary, tomorrow morning.
Bodies will be picked up one after the other and transported. A decision will be taken whether to bring them to Tawang or to Itanagar, he said.
Handique had earlier in the day said a relative of 56-year-old Khandu, who has been Chief Minister twice, and a panchayat leader from his constituency identified his body.
The panchayat leader Thupten from Kyela village of Khandu's Mukto constituency, first informed an official Rinchin of his sighting the body which was passed on Tawang Deputy Commissioner Hamli Padu, who alerted the army base at Kyela, Handique reporters here.
Handique said a state mourning will be declared once the body of the Chief Minister is recovered.
The Minister said all the bodies were lying in a deep gorge in Kyela near Luguthang at an altitude of 4,500 metres about 6 hours by foot from Luguthang Gompa in Tawang district.
Some villagers had reportedly reached the site of the crash of a helicopter and communicated to the control room in Itanagar that they had identified two bodies while three were charred beyond recognition.
04/05/11 PTI/Deccan Herald

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General May 2011, Safety Mar 2011