Record 13 lakh bookings for Chardham Pilgrimage in eight days
The State Tourism Department called it a sign of record breaking flow of pilgrims to the four shrines as the pilgrimage season is scheduled to start on May 10.
An engineer was killed and 8 others were injured on Saturday as a helicopter crashed in Badrinath at 7:45 am.
According to reports, the chopper was on its way from Badrinath to Haridwar, carrying five pilgrims, two pilots and an engineer. The helicopter failed to take off as it couldn't gain height and crashed.
Passengers and pilot received serious injuries while an engineer of the chopper, Vikram Lamba, a resident of Assam, fearing for his life jumped off mid-air and was sliced by the rotor of the helicopter. He died on the spot.
Advertisement
The pilot Sanjay Vange is from Pune and co-pilot Alka Shukla hails from Kanpur.
The helicopter belonged to Castle Aviation Company from Mumbai.
(With inputs from agencies)
Advertisement