A military helicopter with five personnel on board crashed in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh Friday morning. The site is close to the border with China.
Defence officials said the bodies of four personnel were recovered from where the advanced light helicopter (ALH) crashed at 10:43 a.m. near Migging village south of nearest town Tuting. The ALH had taken off from Likabali on the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border for a routine sortie.
“A joint search and rescue operation by Army and Airforce was launched immediately with a MI-17 chopper, two ALHs and three columns of the Army. We have recovered the bodies of four individuals till now,” a defence spokesperson based at central Assam’s Tezpur said.
“The cause of the crash is not known at this stage. Details are being ascertained,” he said.
Based on information from locals, the district authorities said the ALH crashed on a mountain closer to Singging, a village about 25 km from Tuting.
Upper Siang Superintendent of Police, Jummar Basar, said a team of police and administrative officials set off for the crash site soon after the incident. Locals, acquainted with the terrain, also assisted the search and rescue operation, he said.
Tuting, more than 30 km from the Line of Actual Control, is about 170 km north of Yingkiong, the Upper Siang district headquarters.
This is the second crash of a military helicopter since October 5 when a Cheetah crash-landed near Tawang, killing an Army officer and injuring another.
