The bodies will be airlifted to airports nearest to the homes of defense personnel. file
New Delhi:
The coffins of six defense personnel killed in the chopper crash that claimed the life of Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat will reach their homes today.
13 killed in tragic helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu. The severity of the accident was such that initially only three bodies could be identified – General Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and Brigadier Lakhwinder Singh Lidder.
The rest of the bodies are in Delhi’s Army Base Hospital and close family members were called to help in identification.
The bodies of six defense personnel killed in the accident have been identified – Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Junior Warrant Officer Pradeep, Wing Commander PS Chauhan, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das, Lance Naik B Sai Teja and Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh.
The dead bodies will be airlifted to the airports nearest to their homes. A wreath laying ceremony will be held to pay tribute to the personnel at Base Hospital before departure.
Junior Warrant Officer Pradeep’s coffin will land at Sulur airport in Tamil Nadu at 11 am from where it will be taken to his hometown Thrissur, about 124 km away.
The coffin of Wing Commander Chauhan will reach his hometown Agra at around 9.45 am.
An aircraft carrying the coffin of Junior Warrant Officer Das will reach Bhubaneswar at 1 pm; After that the body will be taken to his village in Angul district of Odisha.
The coffin of Lance Naik B Sai Teja will be flown at the Bengaluru airport by 1 pm and then taken to his home in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The coffin of Lance Naik Kumar will reach Himachal Pradesh’s Gaggal airport and will then be taken to his home in Kangra district. The coffin of Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh will reach Pilani airport in Rajasthan at 11.45 am and will then be taken to his home in Jhunjhunu district.
General Rawat’s funeralHis wife Madhulika Rawat and Brigadier Lidder were held in Delhi yesterday.
The bodies of the four defense personnel killed in the chopper crash – Lt Col Harjinder Singh, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar and Havildar Satpal – are yet to be identified.
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