On military chopper crash, Rajnath Singh to make statement in Parliament tomorrow

New Delhi, Dec 08: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement in Parliament tomorrow on the chopper crash that took place in Nilgiris today. Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 12 others were on board the chopper.

Singh also attended a meeting with senior officials of his ministry. Singh, for now will not travel to Tamil Nadu and will continue monitoring the situation from New Delhi itself.

"An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident," a tweet by the Indian Air Force read.

The chopper was heading to the defence establishment in Wellington and the crash took place in the Nilgiris shortly after the Mi-Series chopper took off from the Army base in Sulur.

Visuals from the site showed the wreckage scattered on the hillside and rescuers at work. They were seen struggling through a thick smoke of fire.