The last moments of the Coonoor Mi-17V5 crash were captured on camera and amid sorrow, the courage of families shines through this dark hour.
Six more bodies of the Coonoor Mi-17V5 crash victims have been identified as the mortal remains were barely recognizable.
The chopper crash, that happened close to Coonoor in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, led to the death of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier LS Lidder, Lt Col H Singh, Wg Cdr PS Chauhan, Sqn Ldr K Singh, JWO Das
JWO Pradeep A, Hav Satpal, Nk Gursewak Singh, Nk Jitender, L/Nk Vivek and L/Nk S Teja.
Minutes before the chopper crashed, locals in the Niligiri Hills witnessed it and managed to capture it on video; however, they did not see the actual collision as it dropped to the hills with an accelerated heavy thud, and then there was stark silence.
The mortal remains of two Army personnel and four Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board the chopper have been identified, Defence sources said on Saturday. Last respects were paid to the mortal remains, which were later handed over to their families for the last rites.
The last rites of General Rawat, his wife, and Brigadier Lidder were performed on Friday. The CDS and his wife’s ashes were collected by their daughters, Kritika and Tarini on Saturday morning.
The Madras Regiment Band at Wellington plays to the tune of an old hymn All to Jesus I surrender when the bodies of the Chopper Crash were moved.
#MadrasRegiment band, at #Wellington, plays to the tune of the #hymn "All to Jesus I surrender" when the bodies of the #ChopperCrash are moved. ???
Rest in Peace.
Amen.@romans83539 @MukandRita @JoielAkilan @amosinbaraj @Stanleeskiddo @1bLibertarian @christianenan1 @DGogee pic.twitter.com/xXRPe9MqNy— Jona (@JonaOfIndia) December 10, 2021
While the nation is still in stupefaction at the ill-fated crash, an unfortunate incident occurred when right-wing trolls started attacking 16-yr old girl, Aashna Lidder, the daughter of Brigadier LS Lidder who lost his life in the helicopter accident. Her father was a decorated army officer. The right-wing trolls targeted her because her earlier re/tweets were critical of the ruling party. All this happened while her father’s funeral pyres were still burning. She apparently later saw toxic tweets against her on her timeline and obviously in great pain grieving her father’s demise, deleted her Twitter account. The word they also used was “woke” which is a term used for African Americans as a racial slur, and allegedly it is assumed they were NRI pro-Narendra Modi trolls who live in the US.
Brigadier LS Lidde, Aashna Lidder father
Right-wing troll attacks a 16-yr old girl, who lost her father in a helicopter accident. Her father was a decorated army officer but these so-called nationalist trolls attack her because her re/tweets were critical of the ruling party.
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) December 10, 2021
In all this, great moments of valour are displayed by families who lost their loved ones and a video that is going particularly viral is one of Brigadier LS Lidde’s wife and Aashna.
There are so many other heroes who lost their lives in that ill-fated crash and this would need to be shared more explicitly.
The pilot, Group Captain Varun Singh is the sole survivor and is in a critical state in the Command Hospital in Bengaluru, and sources say he has 80% burns. He is awarded Shaurya Chakra, an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice.