India's military chief among 13 dead in helicopter crash

NEW DELHI－India's Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others including his wife were killed on Wednesday in a helicopter crash in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, officials said.

"Deeply anguished by the sudden demise of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other armed forces personnel in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident today in Tamil Nadu. His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our armed forces and the country," Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh wrote on social media.

"General Rawat had served the country with exceptional courage and diligence. As the first Chief of Defence Staff he had prepared plans for jointness of our armed forces."

The helicopter crashed in the Coonoor area of Nilgiris district, 538 kilometers southwest of Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu.

Footage from the scene showed a crowd of people trying to extinguish the fiery wreck with water buckets while a group of soldiers carried one of the passengers away on an improvised stretcher.

Rawat was headed to the Defense Services Staff College to address students and faculty from the nearby Sulur air force base in Coimbatore.

The chopper was already making its descent at the time of the crash.

Sole survivor

The sole survivor of the crash, a captain working at the college, was being treated for his injuries at a nearby military hospital, the air force said.

Rawat, 63, was appointed as India's first chief of defense staff by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in late 2019.

The position was set up with the aim of integrating India's three military services－the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.

Several of the bodies were badly burned, two government sources said.

"Some bodies were so charred that they could not be immediately identified," one of the sources said.

Modi said he was deeply saddened by Rawat's death. "A true patriot, he greatly contributed to modernizing our armed forces and security apparatus," the prime minister said.

The Indian Air Force ordered an inquiry into the cause of the accident.

In New Delhi, Singh visited Rawat's official residence and the state broadcaster said Modi had summoned a meeting of the cabinet committee on security on Wednesday evening.

Xinhua - Agencies