Two victims of Uttarakhand helicopter crash from UP’s Bijnor; their relatives reach Kedarnath safe
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Two victims of Uttarakhand helicopter crash from UP’s Bijnor; their relatives reach Kedarnath safely
Trishti Singh, 19, and her maternal grandmother Vinod Devi, 66, died in the crash. They were part of a five-member family group that had travelled to Uttarakhand. Three other family members were travelling in a separate helicopter. The helicopter carrying the three had taken off earlier and safely reached its destination. The one carrying the victims took off later after the other three had already arrived. The family is hopeful of receiving the two bodies after they undergo postmortems. The crash might have been triggered by bad weather in the morning, says Dharampal Singh, Singh’s brother. He demands a proper inquiry, taking into account similar incidents that have occurred in recent times, as there was clear negligence, he says.
The two victims–Trishti Singh and her maternal grandmother Vinod Devi, 66–were part of a five-member family group that had travelled to Uttarakhand, with Kedarnath darshan included in their itinerary.
The three other family members who accompanied them on the trip are Vinod Devi’s husband, Dharampal Singh, grandson Ishan Singh, 15, and Singh’s brother, Goransh Singh, 13. They were travelling in a separate helicopter, which reached its destination safely.
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Dharampal Singh, a lawyer, is a resident of Nagina town in Bijnor. Early on Sunday morning, after receiving news of the helicopter crash, other family members rushed to Uttarakhand from Bijnor.
Tejpal Singh, SHO of the Nagina police station, said that when the police reached the victims’ home in the morning, locals informed them that the family had already left for Uttarakhand. The family got the information from Uttarakhand.
Locals told the police that the five-member group had left for Uttarakhand on June 13 for Kedarnath darshan.
“Locals informed us that three family members were travelling in a separate helicopter, while the two victims were in the one that crashed. The helicopter carrying the three had taken off earlier and safely reached its destination. The one carrying the victims took off later after the other three had already arrived,” said Tejpal Singh.
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He added that Trishti Singh had recently come to her maternal uncle’s house. Trishti’s parents live in another part of Bijnor district.
Tejpal Singh added that they were collecting more information about the victims and his family.
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On being contacted, Dharampal Singh said the family had planned a visit to Kedarnath a few days ago. Trishti Singh, who was pursuing a fashion designing course at an institute in Delhi, reached Bijnor, and they left for the tour.
“We were scheduled to take a helicopter from Kedarnath yesterday, but due to bad weather, the authorities decided not to operate flights. On Sunday morning, the authorities rescheduled our trip, and we were sent from Kedarnath in two shifts. In the first shift, I, along with Ishan and Goransh, was sent. In the second shift, my wife and Trishti were scheduled to go,” said Singh.
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Singh said the clash might have been triggered by bad weather in the morning. “I have been informed that similar incidents related to the helicopter service have taken place in the past as well. I demand a proper inquiry, taking into account similar incidents that have occurred in recent times, as there was clear negligence,” he said.
Trishti’s father Atul Vikram is also a practising lawyer and resides in Bijnor.
Singh said the family was hopeful of receiving the two bodies after they underwent postmortems.