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Journalism of Courage
DEHRA DUN, JANUARY 2: New year celebrations of the family which owns the DLF building company took a tragic turn today when four family friends who had gone with them to Mussoorie were killed in a helicopter crash, 30 km from here today. The pilot of the chopper also died and the wife of the DLF owner, Mrs Singh, was seriously injured in the incident.
According to police officials, two choppers owned by K.P.Singh, owner of DLF, had taken off from the private helipad of their estate in Mussoorie en route to Delhi at around 11 am. While the chopper carrying K.P.Singh and former Union Minister Kamal Nath flew to Delhi, the other started losing height soon after taking off.
The chopper fell at Hathipaon village on the outskirts of the hill resort on a road leading to the famous George Everest estate. The villagers rushed to the burning wreckage and tried to put off the fire with water and sand. Eyewitnesses said the chopper started losing height after entering the valley and fell immediately. A technical snag in the helicopter was believed to be the reason for the crash.
Out of six occupants, four died on the spot. They include Major P.K. Mehra, his wife, Veena Mehra, their daughter, Radhika Mehra, and another woman.
Mrs K.P. Singh and the pilot of the helicopter, Col Yadav, were seriously injured in the crash. The villagers took the dead and the injured to the St. Mary’s Hospital at Mussoorie.
The group had postponed its return journey to New Delhi on New Year’s Day following inclement weather at Mussoorie. They decided to fly after the weather cleared this morning.
Senior police and district officials rushed to the spot to supervise rescue and relief operations.
Mrs K.P. Singh was rushed to Delhi for treatment and the injured pilot was sent to Dehra Dun where he later died. Post-mortem of the bodies was conducted at St Mary’s hospital.
