Six Killed in Helicopter Crash Near Joshimath While Flying From Badrinath to Dehradun

Six people, including the pilot, were killed after a private helicopter crashed into a hillside near Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday. The bodies of all six occupants have been recovered, a senior police official confirmed.
 

The helicopter, operated by private company Trans Bharat Aviation Private Limited, was travelling from Badrinath to Dehradun when the accident occurred approximately one hour after take-off.
 

The victims have been identified as pilot Captain Himanshu and five passengers — Pratap, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudhir K and H S Nataraja. All five passengers were residents of Bengaluru.
 

According to officials, the helicopter crashed into a hillside near the JP Power House, close to Marwari Bridge, at around 2:20 pm.
 

Chamoli Superintendent of Police (SP) Surjit Singh Panwar said that the bodies of all six victims had been recovered. However, they had not yet been brought down from the accident site.
 

Following the incident, rescue and relief teams from the Chamoli district administration, police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were dispatched to the location.
 

Further details regarding the circumstances of the crash are awaited.