Dehradun:
All 20 people on board a helicopter that crashed on Tuesday while on a rescue mission in Uttarakhand have died, said Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne.
Five of those killed were from the Air Force; the others belonged to the National Disaster Response Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
(You are our guiding beacon: Air Force tribute to officers who died)
12 bodies have been found so far. 40 commandos are searching the narrow valley where the Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter crashed to find the others. Weapons are being air-dropped to protect them against wild bears.
The soldiers, police and rescue workers who died were flying back from Kedarnath, the part of Uttarakhand that took the worst beating in the flash floods and landslide which have killed at least 1,000 since June 15. The death toll is expected to increase considerably when flood waters recede, revealing the true scale of the disaster in villages that have been cut off so far from rescuers.
(Uttarakhand: 5000 still stranded, rescue ops to focus on Badrinath, Harsil)The air chief said the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the crashed helicopter have been recovered. It's not clear yet if the crash was caused by bad weather or technical problems, he said.
(Our rotors won't stop turning: Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne)"Our men take calculated risks, that is their job," he told reporters of the challenges his soldiers are confronting in rescuing thousands of people by foot and air from remote regions despite rain, whorls of mist, and tough Himalayan terrain.
"I told my troops like in a war, you have to just keep going on," the air chief said to NDTV.
With 60 helicopters in service in Uttarakhand, this is the largest ever relief and rescue operation for the Air Force.
(Watch)The monsoon arrived two weeks early in Uttarakhand, right in the midst of peak tourist season, when thousands of Hindu pilgrims visit the state for its four holy shrines -a trek referred to as "the char-dham yatra."
Uttarakhand devastated: how you can helpIn recent years, helicopters have been organized to fly devotees to the temples, dramatically scaling up the number of visitors.