A helicopter crashed near the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand amid poor visibility early Sunday, killing all seven on board.
Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar told PTI that the accident took place above the forests of Gaurikund.
Five pilgrims, the pilot and an employee of the Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee was among those killed.
The helicopter took off from Kedarnath for Guptkashi around 5:30 am and crashed soon after. The crash site is located nearly 5 km above Gaurikund known as Gauri Mai Khark.
Sources said the chopper belonging to Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd crashed between Gaurikund and Trijuginarayan in Kedarghati and caught fire.
Rajwar said zero visibility caused by bad weather apparently led to the crash and added that rescue and relief teams have been dispatched to the spot.
District Tourism Development Officer and Nodal officer for Heli Service Rahul Chaubey said information about the helicopter going missing was received early this morning and a search was launched immediately.
The deceased hailed from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Those on board the helicopter included Shraddha Rajkumar Jaiswal (35) from Maharashtra, Kashi (2) from Maharashtra, Rajkumar Suresh Jaiswal (41) from Gujarat, Vikram Singh Rawat from Uttarakhand, Vinood Devi (66) from Uttar Pradesh, Tushti Singh (19) from Uttar Pradesh and the pilot Capt Rajveer Singh Chauhan.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a post on X that the State Disaster Response Force and other agencies are engaged in relief and rescue operations.
The chopper crash comes days after an Air India flight to London crashed in Ahmedbad, killing 241 people on board and several others on the ground.
Earlier, on May 8, a helicopter going to Gangotri Dham crashed in Uttarkashi district in which six people were killed.
On June 7, a helicopter going to Kedarnath had to make an emergency landing on the road due to a technical fault soon after take-off in which the pilot was injured but the five devotees on board were rescued safely.
In the wake of the latest crash, Dhami issued strict instructions for helicopter operations in the state.
The chief minister said a strict SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) should be prepared for the operation of heli services in the state, in which a complete check of the technical condition of the helicopter should be made mandatory. Weather status should also be checked before heli operations.
The chief secretary has been directed to constitute a committee of technical experts, which will prepare the SOP after thoroughly reviewing all technical and safety aspects of heli operations.
This committee will ensure that the operation of heli services is completely safe, transparent and as per the prescribed standards, an official statement said.
Dhami has also directed that the high-level committee constituted to investigate helicopter accidents that have took place in the past in the state will thoroughly investigate every aspect of the earlier heli accidents as well as today’s heli crash and submit its report.
This committee will investigate the causes of each incident in depth and identify the guilty persons or institutions and recommend strict action against them.
The chief minister said the importance of heli services in the state is immense for pilgrimage, disaster management and emergency services, hence safety will be given top priority in these