ES Newsdesk 

Itanagar, Oct 21: An Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) "Rudra"  of the Indian Army, with five personnel on board, crashed on Friday at 10.30 hours near Singging village under Palling circle in Upper Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh.
Immediately after receiving reports of the incident, a rescue operation was carried out by the officials and auxiliary labour corps (ALCs) of the local administration, villagers of Singging village and the Indian Army, the Upper Siang district administration said in a statement.
Rescue team has recovered the mortal remains of four out of the five personnel  from the crash site. Two of the bodies were airlifted while other two  bodies could not be airlifted due to poor visibility. One person is still reportedly missing. The rescue operation comprising Indian Army and others will resume on Saturday morning.
Name of officers and jawans who lost their lives are; Major Vikash Shambala, Major Mustafa Bohara, CFN Ashwin VK, Hawaldar Biresh Singh and NK Rohitah Kumar.
The Army Aviation ALH WSI helicopter had taken off from Likabali in Lower Siang district, defence sources said.
“A joint search and rescue operation of Army and Air Force was launched immediately which included 1 MI-17, 2 ALh and 3 columns of the Indian Army. A total of 5 personnel were on board. During the SAR the team has recovered the mortal remains of four individuals out of the five till now.
The cause of the crash at this stage is not known. Details are being ascertained,” Tezpur-based Defence Pro Lt Col A S Walia said.
Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed shock on hearing the news of the helicopter crash. He said that the State Government has rushed the rescue team to the accident site and is providing all assistance.
This is the second such incident involving an Army helicopter in Arunachal Pradesh within a month.
On October 5, an Army aviation Cheetah helicopter which was flying in the forward area while on a routine sortie crashed near Tawang, killing one of the two pilots.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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