coonoor: ‘Copter’s noise stopped suddenly, we realised something was amiss’ | India News – Rashtra News : Rashtra News
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It was a misty, uneventful December day for hill station Coonoor’s residents, until some of them saw a military helicopter swirling over the mountains and plunging down fast around noon on Wednesday. The Mi-17V5 hit a huge tree, crashed into a gorge in the jungle, and burst into flames.
The villagers of Nanjappa Chathram, closest to the crash site near Kattery, ran towards the spot and found a mangled helicopter with charred bodies inside. Three people with severe burns were lying unconscious outside the aircraft.
Helicopter sorties rarely arouse any curiosity in these parts as residents are used to seeing them fly in and out of Wellington, a nearby cantonment that has the Defence Services Staff College. “We did not pay much attention when the helicopter flew over the spot. But when the whirring noise stopped all of a sudden, we realised something was amiss and rushed out of the house,’’ an elderly woman said.
For the next four hours, the locality turned into a war zone with a rush of ambulances, fire engines and army vehicles. More than 200 personnel from defence, health, police, and fire services reached the spot for a coordinated rescue. Not everyone was aware that CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat and his wife were on the flight.
Power supply was suspended to the locality and the place cordoned off as rescue teams started bringing body after charred body from the gorge about 200m away. There was panic, but residents rose to the occasion and joined the rescue effort. They scurried up and down the stone steps and through the muddy mountain terrain to bring water in pots to douse the fire.
The Coonoor government hospital was alerted and health teams told to be ready. The corpses were taken to Wellington military hospital, where shock and grief were written on most defence personnel’s face.
More than 20 ambulances from across Nilgiris district were mobilised and sent to the crash spot. Ambulances and health workers were brought from neighbouring Coimbatore district as well. Specialist doctors in Coimbatore were kept on standby.
As news of the crash spread, security was tightened across Coonoor to prevent people from dashing to the spot. Private vehicles were denied entry at Mettupalayam from 1 pm. Vehicles moving from Coonoor towards Mettupalayam were diverted through Kotagiri.
The villagers of Nanjappa Chathram, closest to the crash site near Kattery, ran towards the spot and found a mangled helicopter with charred bodies inside. Three people with severe burns were lying unconscious outside the aircraft.
Helicopter sorties rarely arouse any curiosity in these parts as residents are used to seeing them fly in and out of Wellington, a nearby cantonment that has the Defence Services Staff College. “We did not pay much attention when the helicopter flew over the spot. But when the whirring noise stopped all of a sudden, we realised something was amiss and rushed out of the house,’’ an elderly woman said.
For the next four hours, the locality turned into a war zone with a rush of ambulances, fire engines and army vehicles. More than 200 personnel from defence, health, police, and fire services reached the spot for a coordinated rescue. Not everyone was aware that CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat and his wife were on the flight.
Power supply was suspended to the locality and the place cordoned off as rescue teams started bringing body after charred body from the gorge about 200m away. There was panic, but residents rose to the occasion and joined the rescue effort. They scurried up and down the stone steps and through the muddy mountain terrain to bring water in pots to douse the fire.
The Coonoor government hospital was alerted and health teams told to be ready. The corpses were taken to Wellington military hospital, where shock and grief were written on most defence personnel’s face.
More than 20 ambulances from across Nilgiris district were mobilised and sent to the crash spot. Ambulances and health workers were brought from neighbouring Coimbatore district as well. Specialist doctors in Coimbatore were kept on standby.
As news of the crash spread, security was tightened across Coonoor to prevent people from dashing to the spot. Private vehicles were denied entry at Mettupalayam from 1 pm. Vehicles moving from Coonoor towards Mettupalayam were diverted through Kotagiri.
( News Source :Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Rashtra News staff and is published from a timesofindia.indiatimes.com feed.)
