MP announces honorarium for families of chopper crash victims

Bhopal, June 27: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said that an honorarium of Rs 10 lakh each would be paid to the families of the 20 personnel and crew of the IAF killed in the helicopter crash during the rescue operations in Uttarakhand.

The honorarium money is being paid as a mark of respect to the people who lost their lives while trying to rescue others, an official announcement said here.

"The money is not being given as help but as a mark of recognition for the invaluable services rendered by these 20 people," it said.

An Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter carrying 20 people had crashed during a rescue mission on Tuesday afternoon near Gaurikund in Uttarakhand. There were 20 people onboard the ill-fated chopper - five from IAF, six from ITBP and rest from National Disaster Response Force.

The Mi-17 V5 chopper was on a rescue mission from Gauchar to Guptkashi and Kedarnath.

PTI