5 Indian soldiers killed in helicopter crash

NEW DELHI, Oct. 22 (YPA) – Five Indian soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash near the disputed border with China, the Indian Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.

In a statement, India’s Defense Ministry explained that air traffic controllers had received a distress signal before the accident, indicating a technical or mechanical failure.

The ministry indicated that four bodies were recovered, while rescuers worked on locating the fifth and last passenger.

The Indian helicopter crashed on Friday south of Toting, a remote city near the line separating China from the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh (northeast), which Beijing claims sovereignty over.

This comes weeks after an Indian Army pilot was killed during a routine helicopter flight in Tawang, in the same area.

The relations between the two countries have been greatly strained since the bloody June 2020 clashes in the Ladakh-Tibet region, which resulted in the killing of at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese.

YPA