Army chopper with 5 on board crashes

NEW DELHI : A helicopter of the Indian Army’s aviation corps with at least five people on board crashed near the Ranjit Sagar Dam in the Basohli area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua, a senior police official said on Tuesday. “We have received information that an army helicopter has crashed in the lake. We have rushed our teams to the spot,” superintendent of police of Punjabs’ Pathankot, Surendra Lamba, said over the phone.

There were no immediate reports of any casualty, he said, adding that more details are awaited. The dam is located about 30km from Pathankot.

Kathua’s SSP Ramesh Kotwal said citing local residents that the chopper crashed in the dam around 10.43 am. “Prima facie it appeared to be an army aviation chopper. We have pressed into service divers and motorboats but no clue so far about many were on-board,” Kotwal added.

Senior administration and police officers are on the spot as is an ambulance.

Local residents claimed the chopper used to hover over the dam and drop a pipe into the water every day. The moment it dropped the pipe on Tuesday morning, it crashed, they added.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday expressed his concerns over the Army helicopter crash at Ranjit Sagar Dam. Taking to Twitter, the chief minister informed that the district administration has been informed and several teams rushed to the location and rescue operations are underway.

“Concerned over the news of an Army helicopter crash at Ranjit Sagar Dam, Pathankot. District Administration has rushed teams to the location, rescue operations are underway,” Singh tweeted.