Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand)/Mumbai, June 15 - A helicopter crashed near Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand early Sunday. Seven people on board the helicopter, including the pilot and a two-year-old girl, died in the accident. Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar told this news agency that the accident took place over the forests of Gaurikund.
The deceased include five devotees, the pilot and an employee of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee. The Civil Aviation Ministry said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will investigate the accident. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has issued strict guidelines for helicopter operations in the state after today's accident.
The helicopter took off from Kedarnath for Guptkashi at around 5:30 am and crashed a few minutes later. The place where the helicopter crashed is five kilometers from Gaurikund, which is popularly known as Gauri Mai Kharak.
Sources said that the chopper belonged to Aryan Aviation Private Limited and crashed between Gaurikund and Trijuginarayan in Kedar Ghati. The helicopter caught fire immediately after falling. Rajwar said that the visibility was absolutely zero due to bad weather, which led to the accident.
District Tourism Development Officer and Heli Service Nodal Officer Rahul Choubey said that the information about the helicopter going missing was received this morning, after which an immediate search was started.
The deceased are residents of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Those on board the helicopter included Shraddha Rajkumar Jaiswal (35) and Kashi (2) from Maharashtra, Rajkumar Suresh Jaiswal (41) from Gujarat, Vikram Singh Rawat from Uttarakhand, Vinood Devi (66) and Tushti Singh (19) from Uttar Pradesh and pilot Captain Rajveer Singh Chauhan. Chauhan is a former soldier who has served in the Indian Army for over 15 years.
Chauhan had extensive experience of flying missions over various areas. According to his LinkedIn profile, Chauhan supervised air operations and was trained in different types of helicopters and their maintenance.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a post on X that the helicopter crashed and the State Disaster Response Force and other agencies have been involved in relief and rescue operations. The incident comes days after an Air India flight to London crashed in Ahmedabad, killing 241 people. Several people were also killed on the ground in the accident.
Earlier, on May 8, a helicopter going to Gangotri Dham crashed in Uttarkashi district, killing six people. Last week (June 7), a helicopter going to Kedarnath had to make an emergency landing on the road due to a technical snag soon after takeoff, in which the pilot was injured but five pilgrims were rescued safely.
Chief Minister Dhami has issued strict instructions for helicopter operations in the state after today's accident. Dhami said that a strict SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) should be prepared for the operation of helicopter services in the state, in which a complete check of the technical condition of the helicopter should be made mandatory.
The weather conditions should also be checked before heli operations. He has directed the Chief Secretary to constitute a committee of technical experts, which will prepare SOPs after thoroughly reviewing all the technical and safety aspects of heli operations.
The official statement said that this committee will ensure that the operation of heli services is completely safe, transparent and as per the prescribed standards.
Dhami directed that the high-level committee formed to investigate the helicopter accidents that have occurred in the past in the state will thoroughly investigate every aspect of the previous helicopter accidents as well as today's accident and submit its report. 
This committee will thoroughly investigate the causes of the accident and identify the guilty individuals or organizations and recommend strict action against them. 
The Chief Minister said that the importance of heli services in the state for pilgrimage, disaster management and emergency services is very high, hence safety will be given top priority in these.