Gen Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, his wife and 11 other armed forces personnel died on Wednesday after the military helicopter they were travelling in crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Air Force said.
The lone survivor, Group Captain Varun Singh, is currently under treatment at a military hospital in Wellington, it said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply anguished” by the sudden demise of Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others in an “extremely unfortunate helicopter” accident.
“Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course today,” the IAF said in a statement.
