Varun Singh, sole survivor of Indian military helicopter crash

Indian Air Force's Group Captain Varun Singh is the only survivor of the military helicopter crash this afternoon in Tamil Nadu, killing Indian defence Chief General Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 11 others.

Varun Singh, is under medical treatment at the Military Hospital in Wellington, reports NDTV.

Wing Commander Varun Singh is a pilot in a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Squadron. He was awarded Shaurya Chakra on this year's Independence Day for his act of exceptional gallantry. He saved the LCA Tejas fighter aircraft during an aerial emergency in 2020.

The Tamil Nadu government has made special arrangements to treat the Group Captain at a hospital in Coimbatore, in case the Air Force decides it wants to move him there.

General Rawat, 63, was headed to the Defence College in Wellington in the Russian-made Mi-17 chopper, which crashed near its destination around noon.

"His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our Armed Forces and the country," Defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Twitter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Gen Bipin Rawat was an outstanding soldier. A true patriot, he greatly contributed to modernising our armed forces and security apparatus."

General Rawat was named India's first Chief of Defence Staff in 2019 and entrusted with improving the coordination between the army, the air force and the navy. Supervised by him, India conducted surgical strikes at a terror camp at Balakot in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in retaliation for a major terror attack that left 40 paramilitary troops dead in Kashmir.

He was headed to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) to address students and faculty from the nearby Sulur air force base in Coimbatore.

The chopper was already making its descent at the time of the crash.

It came down around 10 kilometres from the nearest main road, forcing emergency workers to trek to the accident site.

Bodies recovered from the crash site were badly charred, said rescue officials today.