India Loses First CDS Gen Bipin Rawat to a Helicopter Crash: What We Know So Far

An IAF Mi-17V5 chopper, with General Rawat on board and 13 others, crashed in Coonoor on 8 December.

In an extremely tragic incident, India lost its first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash.

(Photo: The Quint)

In an extremely tragic incident, India lost its first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash.

An IAF Mi-17V5 chopper, with General Rawat on board and 13 others – five crew and nine passengers – including his staff and his wife Madhulika Rawat, crashed in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor district at around noon on Wednesday, 8 December, with one lone survivor.

A tweet posted by the IAF's Twitter handle at 6:03 pm on 8 December, confirmed the fatalities.

"With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident. Gp Capt Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC with injuries is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington," the IAF tweet read.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for an urgent meeting and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to make an official statement in the Parliament on 9 December.

The IAF has ordered an inquiry to ascertain what caused such an unfortunate incident, but until then we'll tell you what we know so far from this terrible incident. Tune in to The Big Story!