Indian State Chief missing, damaged helicopter found
INDIA: Rescuers on Thursday found the helicopter of a powerful Indian
politician in tiger-infested jungle hills after it went missing for
almost 24 hours but his fate was not known, officials said.
Y.S.R. Reddy, Chief Minister of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh,
is an influential political leader who helped spur a Congress party-led
coalition to victory in a general election in May. Reddy was on a tour
of a rural district when his Bell-430 helicopter went missing on
Wednesday over a dense swathe of forest known to be a tiger habitat and
a stronghold of Maoist rebels.
“We have located the helicopter, it is on top of a hill ... our
helicopters are there. We are trying to find out if there are any
survivors,” Air Commodore Sagar Bharati said. Home Ministry officials
said the helicopter was damaged but they gave no details.
Some Indian news channels, quoting unidentified government sources,
said the helicopter had been reduced to a mangled mass of metal and
survivors were unlikely. It was not known why the helicopter came down.
Officials launched a big search after the helicopter went missing,
deploying hundreds of police, soldiers and tribesmen from the area. Air
force fighters and a satellite were also used for thermal imaging of the
area.
Hyderabad,Thursday, Reuters |