“The crash occurred within minutes of takeoff,” authorities said…Investigations are underway to determine the cause.
A helicopter carrying Hindu pilgrims crashed shortly after takeoff in India’s northern Uttarakhand state on Saturday, killing all seven people on board, officials confirmed.
The chopper was en route from the Kedarnath temple town to Guptkashi, a short 10-minute pilgrimage flight across the Himalayas.
“The crash occurred within minutes of takeoff,” authorities said. Investigations are underway to determine the cause.
This marks India’s second major air disaster in days. On Wednesday, an Air India Boeing 787 bound for London plummeted less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad, killing at least 270 people, including residents of a medical college dormitory it struck. Only one passenger survived.
The back-to-back tragedies have intensified scrutiny of India’s aviation safety, particularly in high-altitude and pilgrimage regions.
Rescue operations at the helicopter crash site are ongoing, with officials expressing condolences to the victims’ families.