 | « Back to article | Print this article |
The mortal remains of those who died in the fatal helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu will be brought to Delhi on Thursday in an Indian Air Force plane.
The mortal remains reached Sulur airbase earlier on Thursday from where they will be taken to Delhi.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others, who were on board IAF's Mi-17V5 helicopter, died in the crash on Wednesday.
The last rites will be held in Delhi on Friday with military honours.
A funeral procession will start from Kamraj Marg to Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment on Friday.
The mortal remains were on Thursday brought to Madras Regimental Centre from Military Hospital, Wellington in Nilgiris district.
People paid floral tribute to the deceased.
Among the attendees were Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, who paid floral tribute to General Rawat and others at Madras Regimental Centre.
The Centre informed on Thursday that a 'tri-services' enquiry has been ordered into the accident.
The enquiry will be headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command.
Informing about the timeline of the fatal crash, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha said that the IAF chopper lost contact with the Sulur base control room at around 12.08 pm, after it took off at 11.48 am from Sulur airbase.
Both Houses of the Parliament observed two-minutes silence on the demise of 13 people.