General Bipin Rawat's Chopper 'Flew Low Though Fog' Before Crash
NDTV
"I saw smoke billowing out of the woods and an odd cracking sound. The helicopter had crashed near my brother's house," said Jayasaleen, an eyewitness
The helicopter carrying Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat seemed to be flying unusually low and before it got enveloped in fog and crashed, killing him and 12 others on board, eyewitnesses have said.
Construction worker Jayaseelan was in his Coonoor home when he heard the chopper. After hearing a crash, he rushed outside. "I saw smoke billowing out of the woods and an odd cracking sound. The helicopter had crashed near my brother's house," the 57-year-old was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
Jayaseelan and the other locals said they struggled to reach the burning wreckage because of the heat. The emergency services, which arrived soon, had trouble reaching the site with firefighting equipment because of the terrain.
"Of the first four people brought out from the crash site, one was alive... He was crying in pain," 45-year-old Kumar, another local, was quoted as saying.
