General Bipin Rawat and 12 others die in the helicopter crash in Coonoor – IAF confirms

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Mrs Madhulika Rawat  and 11 other people died after a military helicopter they were travelling in crashed in Coonooe, Tamil Nadu, the Indian Air Force said.

General Rawat, 63, was appointed as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in late 2019.

The accident took place around noon near the town of Coonoor, and the dead include four crew members of the Mi-17V5 helicopter, the Air Force said in a tweet. Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course today.