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Seven people, including a toddler, died on Sunday when a helicopter transporting Hindu pilgrims from a shrine crashed in the Himalayas.
The tragic incident occurred just days after a passenger plane crash in Ahmedabad killed at least 279 people.
According to disaster response official Nandan Singh Rajwar, the helicopter crash claimed the lives of the pilot and all six passengers during a flight from the Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand state.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, the state’s chief minister, confirmed that rescue teams were immediately dispatched following the “very sad news.”
District tourism official Rahul Chaubey suggested that bad weather was the likely cause of the accident.
The Kedarnath temple, situated at an altitude of 3,584 meters (11,759 feet), attracts numerous pilgrims during the summer months when it’s accessible.
A growing industry of helicopter charter companies caters to wealthier pilgrims seeking to visit these Himalayan shrines without undergoing arduous trekking. This latest crash follows another fatal helicopter incident last month, which also killed six people en route to the same shrine.
