Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat has passed away in an Indian Air Force helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district on Wednesday, December 8. 12 others, including his wife Madhulika Rawat, also lost their lives in the unfortunate incident.
The sudden and tragic death of India’s top defence official was followed by condolences lead by President Ram Nath Kovind who is the supreme commander of the armed forces and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From outside India, condolences poured in from across countries. The Pakistani Army also offered its condolences to the late four-star general in a tweet.
The official Twitter handle of the Pakistani Armed Forces @OfficialDGISPR posted, “General Nadeem Raza, CJCSC & General Qamar Javed Bajwa, COAS express condolences on tragic death of #CDS General #BipinRawat, his wife and loss of precious lives in a helicopter crash in India”
The unfortunate accident took place when an Mi 17 V5 helicopter belonging to the Indian Air Force, carrying CDS Bipin Rawat, his wife and eight other passengers alongside a crew of four, crashed around noon today near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. CDS Rawat was enroute to Defence Services Staff College in Wellington in Coonoor when the chopper crashed in a heavily forested area around 12:20 pm.
Other casualties in the crash are Brigadier LS Lidder, Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitender Kumar, Naik Vivek Kumar, Naik B. Sai Teja and Havaldar Satpal. Sole survivor Gp Capt Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington, the IAF informed.
