Group Captain Varun Singh shifted to Bengaluru hospital

The lone survivor in the IAF helicopter crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, and 12 others, and initially admitted to a hospital at Wellington in the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu, was shifted to Bengaluru for higher treatment on Thursday, official sources said.

IAF Group Captain Varun Singh was air-lifted to Bengaluru from Coimbatore for higher treatment at the Command Hospital there, the sources said.

Singh was undergoing treatment at the Military Hospital in Wellington for 80 per cent burns and his condition was said to be "critical but stable," they said.

His father had also earlier said his son would be moved to the Karnataka capital for treatment.

Talking to PTI over phone, the Group Captain's father Colonel K P Singh (retired), who is a resident of Bhopal, said, "He is being shifted to Bengaluru. I have reached Wellington."

Asked about his son's condition, he said, "I can't say anything about that...I am not sure."

Lt Colonel Ishan R (retired), who lives next door to Col K P Singh's residence at Sun City on the Airport Road in the Madhya Pradesh capital, said he was hopeful the injured officer will recover.

He said Col K P Singh and his wife Uma were in Mumbai at the place of their younger son Tanuj, who is a Lt Commander in the Navy, when they received information about the unfortunate incident on Wednesday.

"I spoke to Colonel K P Singh this morning. He said his son was a fighter and will come out victorious (from the tragedy)," he said.

He recalled that Group Captain Varun Singh had earlier survived a life-threatening emergency while flying a Tejas aircraft during a test sortie last year. For his bravery, he was awarded the Shaurya Chakra this year.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told Parliament that a tri-services inquiry led by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh has started investigation into the helicopter crash that killed India's first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Rawat, his wife and 11 others.

Singh said in a statement in the Lok Sabha that all efforts were being made to save Group Captain Varun Singh, who was on life support at the military hospital in Wellington.