General Bipin Rawat Chopper Crash Live Updates: Rajnath Singh to brief parliament today over IAF chopper crash incident

Locals shower flower petals and chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' as ambulances carrying mortal remains of CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other personnel, who died in Coonoor military chopper crash, arrive at Sulur airbase from Madras Regimental Centre in Nilgiris district. (ANI)

Capt Varun Singh still critical

Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the Coonor crash, is still in critical condition. He has been moved by a vehicle ambulance to Sulur and will be shifted to Command Hospital in Bangalore.

General Rawat was a true leader, true friend of Israel: Prime Minister Bennett

Describing General Bipin Rawat as a "true leader and true friend" of Israel, the country's top leadership has expressed condolences to the government and people of India at the "tragic and shocking loss" of its first Chief of Defence Staff who died in a helicopter crash.

The Mi-17V5 helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) carrying the 63-year-old tri-services chief crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, killing 13 of the 14 people on board, including his wife and 11 other armed forces personnel. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in a tweet said, "My thoughts & prayers are with the families of those who perished in the tragic helicopter crash in India. May their souls rest in peace". (PTI)

CDS chopper crash: Lone survivor Group Captain Varun Singh being shifted to Bengaluru, says his father

IAF Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the helicopter crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and 12 others, is being shifted to Bengaluru from the Army hospital at Wellington in Tamil Nadu, his father said on Thursday. The crash took place near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. Talking to PTI over phone, Group Captain Varun Singh's father Colonel K P Singh (retired), who is a resident of Bhopal, said, "He is being shifted to Bengaluru. I have reached Wellington." Asked about his son's condition, he said, "I can't say anything about that...I am not sure."

Lt Colonel Ishan R (retired), who lives next door to Col K P Singh's residence at Sun City on the Airport Road here, said he was hopeful that Group Captain Varun Singh will recover. He said Col K P Singh and his wife Uma were in Mumbai at the place of their younger son Tanuj, who is Lt Commander in the Navy, when they got the unfortunate news on Wednesday. (PTI)

Defence minister Rajnath Singh to call on President Ram Nath Kovind and apprise him of the details of chopper crash

Air Marshal Manvendra Singh will be heading the tri-services inquiry into the IAF chopper crash

Names of those died in IAF chopper crash

♦ CDS General Bipin Rawat

♦ Spouse of the CDS, Mrs Madhulika Rawat

♦ Rawat's Defence Adviser Brig Lakhbinder Singh Lidder

♦ Staff Officer Lt Col Harjinder Singh

The nine other armed forces personnel including the Air Force helicopter crew are:

♦ Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan

♦ Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh

♦ Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das

♦ Junior Warrant Officer Arakkal Pradeep

♦ Havildar Satpal Rai

♦ Naik Gursewak Singh

♦ Naik Jitendra Kumar

♦ Lance Naik Vivek Kumar

♦ Lance Naik B Sai Teja

IAF copter crash: Search on for black box

The Flight Recorder, more popularly known as 'Black Box', of the ill-fated Indian Air Force helicopter that crashed near here on Wednesday, killing Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat and 12 others, has not yet been recovered and officials have expanded the area of search, police sources said.

The sources added the search area has been expanded from 300 metres to one km from the accident spot by the Defence officials. The black box would provide crucial data on the chain of events leading to the tragedy on the hills on Wednesday when the 63-year old Rawat, the country's first CDS, his wife and 11 others were killed when the Mi-17VH helicopter they were travelling in crashed and went up in flames, leaving only one survivor. (PTI)

Gen Rawat was strong proponent of India-US defence partnership: US

General Bipin Rawat, India's first Chief of Defence Staff who died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, was a strong proponent of India-US defence ties and helped deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries, a senior US official has said. General Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 other people on board an Indian Air Force helicopter died in a crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, the Air Force said.

The copter carrying General Rawat and his entourage crashed in apparently foggy conditions, killing the 13 people on board, the IAF and other officials said. One person survived the crash and is being treated at a hospital. (PTI)

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to make statement in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha today

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement in Lok Sabha at 11 am today followed by a statement at Rajya Sabha on the military helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.