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IAF chopper crash: Himachal Pradesh CM assures all help to family of Lance Naik Vivek Kumar
Besides ₹5 lakh announced for the bereaved family under a government scheme, CM Jai Ram Thakur announced financial compensation of the same amount from his side as well.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday assured all help to the family of Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, who was among the victims of Wednesday’s Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district. “We have paid homage to Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, as Kangra mourns. ₹5 lakh was provided to the kin previously, as per a government scheme. But I will additionally provide financial aid of ₹5 lakh from my side. We’ll see to all the help needed by the family soon,” Thakur said, according to news agency ANI.
On his Twitter account, the chief minister described Lance Naik Kumar’s death as a ‘painful’ moment for everyone in Himachal Pradesh. “Paid floral tributes to the mortal remains of Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, who was from Jaisinghpur, and was martyred in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor. Met his parents in Dharamshala to share their grief,” he tweeted.
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“We pray to God to give strength to the bereaved family. We stand with them in this hour of grief. I salute the martyrdom of Vivek Kumar,” Thakur posted in a subsequent tweet.
Lance Naik Kumar was among 14 people on board IAF’s Mi-17V5 chopper, which crashed near Coonoor in the southern state, and led to the death of, among others, General Bipin Rawat, the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Besides CDS Rawat and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, 11 others, too, lost their lives: General Rawat’s wife Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier LS Lidder, Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan (the pilot), Squadron Leader Kuldip Singh (co-pilot), Junior Warrant Officers Rana Pratap Das and Arakkal Pradeep, Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar and Lance Naik B Sai Teja.
Group Captain Varun Singh is the sole survivor, and is currently undergoing treatment at a military hospital in Bengaluru, where his condition is said to be ‘critical.’
