India chopper crash: Toddler among seven killed

This handout photograph taken on June 15, 2025 and released by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) of India’s Uttarakhand state shows smoke billowing from the site of a chopper crash near Gaurikund. Seven people including a toddler were killed on June 15, in India when a helicopter ferrying Hindu pilgrims back from a shrine crashed in the Himalayas, officials said. (Photo by Uttarakhand’s State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) / AFP)

DEHRADUN, India — Seven people including a toddler were killed Sunday in India when a helicopter ferrying Hindu pilgrims from a shrine crashed in the Himalayas, officials said.

The fatal accident comes as relatives mourn at least 279 people killed when a passenger plane slammed into a residential area in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday.

The helicopter crash left the pilot and all six passengers dead when their chopper came down during the flight from Kedarnath temple, in Uttarakhand state, disaster response official Nandan Singh Rajwar told AFP.

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The state’s chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, said rescue teams had been dispatched to the scene after the “very sad news”.

The crash was likely caused by bad weather, according to district tourism official Rahul Chaubey.

Pilgrims flock to Kedarnath temple during the summer when it is possible to access the site, which stands at an altitude of 3,584 meters (11,759 feet).

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A cottage industry of helicopter charter firms has developed to serve wealthy pilgrims who want to visit shrines in the Indian Himalayas, but who prefer to avoid arduous trekking.

Six people were killed last month in another helicopter crash en route to the shrine. /dl