A chopper carrying Gen Rawat crashed Wednesday, killing 13 people, including the General and his wife. The Mi-17 V5 chopper crashed shortly after it took from an Air Force base in Sulur near Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore.
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The Indian Air Force tweeted in the evening - at 6.03 pm - to confirm that Gen Rawat and his wife, Madhulika Rawat, had died. 14 people - five crew and nine passengers - were on board the Mi-17V5 helicopter that went down in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiri Hills.
"With deep regret, it has now been ascertained Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident," the Air Force said.
General Bipin Rawat and his wife will be cremated on Friday in Delhi Cantonment. Their bodies are expected to arrive in the national capital in a military plane later today.
A sole male survivor - Group Captain Varun Singh - is being treated for severe injuries. "Group Captain Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC, with injuries is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington," the Air Force confirmed.
Tributes for Gen Rawat have begun pouring in, with President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah , and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar leading the way. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and the NCP's Sharad Pawar also tweeted.
Rajnath Singh will make a statement on the helicopter crash in both the houses of Parliament today.
The chopper crashed shortly after it took off this morning from an Air Force base in Sulur near Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore.
At 11.45 AM, General Rawat left for Wellington in Udhagamandalam, also known as Ooty, where a Defence Services Staff College is located, aboard the Mi-17V5 chopper with 13 others. At noon, the chopper crashed near Coonoor, 14km from its destination.
The crash was first reported around 12.20 pm. The defence establishment learnt of the incident from villagers in nearby Katteri who informed the district administration. Eight ambulances and medical teams from Coimbatore and Wellington are at the scene.
The crash site was in a forested area, which makes access to the wreckage difficult. Visuals showed pieces of the chopper, some of which was still on fire, scattered on the hillside and rescuers at work, struggling through thick smoke and fire.
