Next 48 hrs critical for lone survivor Varun Singh

Bengaluru: Indian Air Force's Group Captain Varun Singh, the Directing Staff at the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, and the lone survivor of the Mi-17V5 chopper crash in which Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others were killed, is said to be in a critical condition but stable.

However, the treating doctors have said that next 48 hours will be critical for the recipient of the Shaurya Chakra gallantry award Singh. Group Captain Singh is being treated for severe burn injuries and has been flown to a hospital in Bengaluru.

"He is being shifted to Bengaluru. I have reached Wellington," his father Col Singh said. On his son's condition, he added, "I can't say anything about that... I am not sure." "He is critical but stable at the moment," said officials.

"Praying for the speedy recovery of Gp Capt Varun Singh, who is currently under treatment at the Military Hospital," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said in one of his Twitter posts.

Group Captain Varun Singh, who has a wife and two children, was recently promoted from the rank of Wing Commander to Group Captain and was a recent joinee at the DSSC.

In 2020, Singh had a narrow escape when a Light Combat Aircraft which he was flying suffered a system failure while descending, and led to total loss of control of the aircraft.

The Air Force officer won the Shaurya Chakra in August for his courage in handling his aircraft after it was hit by major technical issues during a sortie last year. He managed to land his Tejas fighter safely.