Priyanka Gandhi condoles loss of lives in Uttarakhand helicopter crash
New Delhi: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday expressed grief over the deaths of six people in a helicopter crash near Chai village close to Joshimath in Uttarakhand, while on its way from Badrinath to Sahastradhara.
The victims include the pilot of the helicopter.
Taking to X, the Congress leader said: “The news of the death of six people in the helicopter crash in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, is deeply saddening.”
“May God grant peace to the departed souls. My heartfelt condolences are with the bereaved families. May the Almighty give them the strength to bear this immense loss,” she added.
Earlier in the day, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat also condoled the loss of life in the incident, while seeking an inquiry into the repeated aviation disasters that have rocked the state in recent times.
Speaking to reporters in Dehradun, Rawat said: “This is deeply painful…Along with making our helicopter services competitive, we also need to make them safe and secure. An inquiry will be conducted and improvements will be made based on the probe but this is extremely necessary because one after another, such incidents are happening which are alarming.”
Meanwhile, the bodies of all six individuals, including the pilot, have been recovered from the crash site by joint teams of the Uttarakhand Police, the State Disaster Response Force, and the Army, which swung into action for rescue and recovery operations after receiving the news of the accident.
The operation to transport all the bodies from the difficult-to-access crash site to a location connected by road was underway, officials said.
The pilot of the helicopter was identified as Capt. Himanshu Sabharwal, who hailed from Delhi, while the passengers were Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K., and H.S. Natraja, all from Karnataka, police said.
According to official information, Gowda was an advocate, while Nataraja ran a poultry business in Karnataka’s Huliyurdurga.
There were no women or children on board the helicopter, officials said.