Karnataka helicopter crash victims return home for last rites
The bodies of five residents and a pilot arrived in Bengaluru on Sunday before being sent to their respective home districts.
The bodies of five Karnataka residents killed in a helicopter crash near Joshimath in Uttarakhand arrived at their native places for final rites, officials said on Monday.
According to Urban Acres, the remains reached Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru late on Sunday and were then moved to various districts.
The victims included Hassan businessman Prathapa, Bengaluru Police Central Crime Branch inspector Arun Salunke, advocates Shankar Gowda and K Sudheer, and poultry businessman H S Nataraj. Captain Himanshu, the pilot, also died in the accident.
Salunke’s body was taken to Aratal village in Belagavi district for rites scheduled on Monday. Prathapa’s remains reached Hassan, while Sudheer’s rites were being performed in Tyavanige village in Davanagere district, a senior police officer said.
Gowda and Nataraj were transported to Huliyurdurga town in Tumakuru district. The crash happened on Friday on a hillside near Chai village in Joshimath as the helicopter was returning to Dehradun from the Badrinath shrine.
All six people on board the helicopter died in the incident. The arrival of the bodies marks the completion of their return to Karnataka.