12 Indian defence personnel killed in a helicopter crash
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Guwahati, India, Nov 19, IRNA -- Twelve Indian defence personnel were killed in a helicopter crash on Friday close to the Chinese border in the frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh, officials said.
A defence spokesperson said the MI-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed around midday soon after take off from Tawang, perched at an altitude of about 14,000 feet.
“The helicopter with 12 people on board crashed into a hill with all the dead bodies recovered from a place called Bombdir close to Tawang,” defence spokesperson R. Kalia said by telephone.
Eleven of the victims were from the IAF and one was from the Indian army.
“The helicopter took off from Tawang and was on way to Guwahati (Assam’s main city) when it crashed soon after take off,” the official said.
Most of the victims were posted in border posts along China’s Tibet region.
The IAF has ordered an enquiry to go into the crash details.
“We don’t know the circumstances leading to the crash and only experts would be able to give us an idea what went wrong,” Kalia said.
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