A day after Indian Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and 12 others were killed in a helicopter crash in the country's Tamil Nadu state, a video allegedly showing the last moments before the accident, when the helicopter was flying near Nilgiris District, has surfaced.
The video captured a helicopter, believed to be the Mi-17V5 carrying the Indian defence officials, flying near Nilgiris District. According to Indian news agency ANI, the footage, whose authenticity is yet to be verified by the Indian Air Force (IAF), was shared by locals.
A journalist shared the video on Twitter, saying that police sources have confirmed the authenticity of the video to The Quint, an Indian news website.
In the video, a person can be heard asking: “What happened? Did it fall or crash?” Another person responds: “Yes”.
General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others were killed on Wednesday after their Mi-17V5 military helicopter crashed on its way to Wellington from Sulur Air Force Base in Coimbatore city.
General Rawat was going to address students and faculty of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington. Group Captain Varun Singh, the sole survivor of the crash, is being treated at the military hospital in Wellington.
He suffered 45 percent burns and as per the latest update, his vitals are stable. The doctors are also taking a call to shift him to the Air Force Command hospital in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka state.