Azhar Qadri

Seven persons, including two Indian Air Force pilots and a civilian, were killed in a helicopter crash in central Kashmir’s Budgam district today, officials said.

The Mi-17 IAF helicopter crashed in an open field at Garend Kalaan village, 7 km from Budgam town, around 10 am. The cause of the crash could not be ascertained.

A police official said seven charred bodies were found from the scene of the crash and that their identities were not immediately known. A senior civil administration official said six of the seven dead were IAF personnel.

A civilian, Kifayat Ganai, who was working in the fields, was also killed.

Local villagers rushed to the site soon after the crash. A villager said he was in the fields when he heard a loud thud. “Five to six persons were in the fields when the helicopter came crashing down,” he said.

A video showed a plume of smoke rising from the site of the crash, which is close to the IAF airfield and the civilian airport.

A government official said a technical team of the IAF assessed the wreckage as the site was secured by the Army and police.

The crash came amid a state of heightened alert along the border.

Courtesy:The Tribune,Feb 28,2019