Uttarakhand: Six killed as helicopter crashes near Joshimath

Six persons were killed after a helicopter they were travelling in from Badrinath Dham to Dehradun crashed near Joshimath on Friday, The Hindu quoted the Chamoli district magistrate as saying.

Earlier in the day, the India Meteorological Department issued an orange alert for Chamoli, predicting isolated thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hailstorms, and gusty winds reaching speeds up to 50 km per hour, reported ANI.

The weather department had also forecast light to moderate rainfall in the district, with light rain and snowfall likely along the Badrinath-Joshimath sector.

Uttarakhand: A civil helicopter operated by Trans Bharat Aviation crashed in the Hathi Parvat area of Chamoli district on Friday while flying from Shri Badrinath Dham to the Sahastradhara helipad in Dehradun. Six people were on board, including five passengers and a pilot. All of… https://t.co/qmCbTjgXUf pic.twitter.com/qvNKKUf1Ks— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2026

The police received information about the helicopter crash at around 2.21 pm, The Indian Express quoted Sub-Inspector Manohar Kanyal, posted at Joshimath police station, as saying.

Prateek Jain, the chief executive officer of the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority, said the helicopter carrying six persons had taken off from Badrinath at 1.14 pm and went missing soon after.

Those who died were identified as Captain Himanshu and five male passengers – Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K and HS Natraja, reported The Hindu.

The five passengers...

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