In a tragic incident, two out of three bodies have been recovered after an Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) crashed in the Arabian Sea during an emergency landing. The helicopter was approaching a vessel for the evacuation of an injured crew member when the mishap occurred.
According to Porbandar Coast Guard Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Pankaj Agarwal, the recovered bodies have been identified as Commandant Vipin Babu and P/NVK Karan Singh. The search and rescue operation had earlier saved one crewmember when the wreckage of the helicopter was located.
The helicopter had recently played a pivotal role in saving the lives of 67 people during the cyclonic weather in Gujarat. Unfortunately, it was forced to make an emergency landing about 45 kilometers from Porbandar while carrying out a rescue operation.
The incident occurred during a medical evacuation mission launched around 11 p.m. on Monday. The operation was in response to a distress call from the Master of the Indian-flagged Motor Tanker Hari Leela, which was about 45 kilometers from Porbandar. The injured crew member onboard required immediate medical assistance.
This is not the first rescue mission the Indian Coast Guard has undertaken recently. On August 26, the ICG successfully rescued 11 crew members from the distressed vessel MV ITT Puma. The Mumbai-registered cargo ship was en route from Kolkata to Port Blair when it sank approximately 90 nautical miles south of Sagar Island, West Bengal, during a challenging night-time search and rescue operation.
Authorities continue to investigate the helicopter crash and search for the third missing crewmember.
