Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec.11: The coffins of six army officers killed in the chopper crash that also killed Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat are expected to arrive at their homes today.
The horrific chopper crash in Tamil Nadu claimed the lives of thirteen people. Only three bodies were originally identified due to the severity of the crash: General Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and Brigadier Lakhwinder Singh Lidder.
Close family members were called in to assist with the identification of the remaining dead at the Army Base Hospital in Delhi.
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 were among the six defence personnel killed in the crash who bodies have been identified.
The bodies will be flown to airports near their residences. A wreath-laying ceremony will be place at the base hospital before to departure to honour the personnel.
Junior Warrant Officer Pradeep’s coffin will arrive at Sulur air base in Tamil Nadu at 11 a.m., from where it will be transported to his hometown of Thrissur, which is approximately 124 kilometres away.
Wing Commander Chauhan’s coffin will arrive in Agra, his hometown.
At 1 p.m., a plane carrying Junior Warrant Officer Das’s body will arrive in Bhubaneswar; the body will then be transported to his village in the Angul district of Odisha.
Lance Naik B Sai Teja’s body would be flown to Bengaluru airport by 1 p.m. and then transported to his home in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
Lance Naik Kumar’s casket will arrive at the Gaggal airport in Himachal Pradesh before being transported to his home in Kangra district. By 11.45 a.m., Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh’s casket will arrive at Rajasthan’s Pilani airport, where it will be transported to his home in the Jhunjhunu area.
Bodies of Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, and Havildar Satpal, the other officers killed in the chopper crash are yet to be identified.
