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Brigadier, pilots, paracommandos killed in helicopter crash

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

An army brigadier was killed along with two pilots and two paracommandos, when the helicopter they were flying in crashed near the Vaishnodevi shrine.

Brigadier Raman Saigal and the others were killed on the spot, when the helicopter was about to land at the helipad in Sanjichat at 1.50 pm. The brigadier was going to visit the shrine, when the mishap occurred.

Brig Sehgal, a senior serving officer of the Northern Army Command, was escorting his army commander GOC-in-C Lt Gen H M Khanna, who was paying a farewell visit to the shrine.

The others killed in the crash caused by "sudden engine failure" were pilots Maj S Lohchub and Capt R Garg, co-pilot and sepoys Pawan Carpenter and Sunik Kumar Shastri.

Defence Ministry sources in New Delhi claimed that it was a routine flight.

A court of inquiry has been ordered.

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