Grief engulfed Jaipur as family and friends carried out the funeral procession of Lieutenant Colonel (Retd.) Rajveer Singh Chauhan, the pilot of the helicopter that crashed near Kedarnath, Uttarakhand. Amid the heartfelt tributes, a video of his wife, Lt Colonel Deepika Chauhan, has shattered people's hearts online. It shows her fighting tears while clutching her husband’s photo.
“Lt Colonel Rajveer Singh Chauhan (Retd) was one of the seven people who died in a helicopter crash in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand on June 15. Visuals from Shastri Nagar as his wife, Lt Colonel Deepika Chauhan, Rajasthan Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and others take part in his funeral procession,” ANI wrote.
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The video shows Deepika Chauhan holding a framed photograph of her husband, which is adorned with a garland and draped in a red and yellow cloth. She is slowly walking at the front of the funeral procession while trying hard not to shed tears.
In a video later shared by ANI, “Lt Colonel Deepika Chauhan bids a tearful goodbye to her husband, Lt Colonel Rajveer Singh Chauhan (Retd), who was the pilot of the helicopter that crashed in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand, on June 15.”
{{/usCountry}}In a video later shared by ANI, “Lt Colonel Deepika Chauhan bids a tearful goodbye to her husband, Lt Colonel Rajveer Singh Chauhan (Retd), who was the pilot of the helicopter that crashed in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand, on June 15.”
{{/usCountry}}What had happened?
"We recieved information about missing helicopter earlier this morning. A search operation was launched to trace the helicopter. The belonging to Aryan Aviation was returning from Kedarnath Dham to its base in Guptkashi when it encountered sudden adverse weather conditions in the valley. The pilot attempted to navigate the helicopter out of the valley; however, the aircraft crashed during the effort,” District Tourism Officer Rahul Chaubey said.
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State disaster response force commandant Arpan Yadhuvanshi said, “The valley was covered in dense fog with overcast conditions [at the time of the crash].”
Who were the victims?
35-year-old pilot Rajveer Singh Chauhan lost his life in the crash. The tragedy claimed the lives of a family of three - Rajkumar Suresh Jaiswal, 41, his wife Shradha, 35, and their daughter Kashi, 2 - from Maharashtra.
66-year-old Vinod Devi and her 19-year-old granddaughter Tusti Singh lost their lives. The helicopter was also carrying temple committee member Vikram, 46, who lost his life in the incident.