Army helicopter crash: Efforts on to locate missing crew

Efforts are on to locate two Indian Army personnel who went missing after their helicopter crashed near the Ranjit Sagar dam near Pathankot on Tuesday.

A team of the National Disaster Relief Force is at the spot to trace them. 

As per the sources in the state police, "So far items like chopper skids, fuel tanks, stabilizer, helmets and identity card of one of the two pilots have been recovered." 

The dam is located about 30 km from Pathankot.

"We have pressed into service divers and motorboats, but there is no lead so far," Kathua's SSP Ramesh Kotwal said. 

The incident had happened around 1030-1100 hours when the advanced light Dhruv helicopter was on a routine sortie after taking off from Mamun cantonment in Kathua. 

As per the locals, the depth of the lake is around 250 feet, where the crash has happened. 

"Deepwater divers are at the job, but the operation will take time. We have also retrieved two helmets, which are most likely of the two pilots, who were flying the helicopter," Kotwal said.

The ill-fated helicopter belonged to the 254 Army Aviation Squadron.

Avove Image: File photo of the HAL Dhruv helicopter of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Photograph: Schöning/Getty Images

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