A Helicopter carrying pilgrims from the Baltal base camp to the Amarnath shrine cave crashed on Thursday, resulting in the death of a woman pilgrim and injuries to five others. The cause of the crash is being investigated by aviation experts from New Delhi.

The crash took place in the morning, when a helicopter of Himalayan Airways with four passengers aboard, crash-landed at the helipad near the Amarnath cave. A woman identified as Kalawati, 50, a resident of Baitul district in Madhya Pradesh, who was on foot to the cave, was killed when she was hit by the blades of the helicopter.

Those injured in the crash were passengers and the pilot of the helicopter.

The pilot has been identified as Captain Parminder Singh and those injured are couple Vandana (45) and Rajesh Kumar (51), residents of Kolkata, Tejpal Singh (62) and Om Prakash Aggarwal (58) of of Uttar Pradesh.

Chief Executive Officer, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), B B Vyas said the injured were brought to Baltal where the condition of Om Prakash Aggarwal and Tejpal Singh was reported to be stable. “Rajesh and Vandana, and the pilot were airlifted to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, Srinagar, for specialised treatment,” the CEO added.

The CEO said the helicopter, operated by Himalayan Heli Services, could not land at the helipad at the holy cave and in the process lost height around 100 metres away from the lower camp towards Sangam. He said the Director General Civil Aviation, New Delhi, has deputed a team of Assistant Director and Deputy Director of Air Safety to investigate the cause of the incident.

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