The bodies of two of the three missing crew members of the Indian Coast Guard helicopter that crashed into the Arabian Sea off Gujarat's Porbandar coast have been recovered while the search for the third one is still on, officials said.
The bodies of the Advanced Light Helicopter's (ALH) pilot, Commandant Vipin Babu, and its diver, Karan Singh, were recovered on Tuesday night, said Coast Guard spokesperson Amit Uniyal. Efforts are underway to find the other pilot, Rakesh Rana, he added.
"Of the total four crew members on board the ICG's advanced light helicopter (ALH), diver Gautam Kumar was rescued soon after the incident while a search was on for three others - one pilot and two divers. On Tuesday night, the bodies of pilot Vipin Babu and diver Karan Singh were recovered," he said.
The Coast Guard has deployed four ships and an aircraft to locate the missing pilot, Rakesh Rana. The spokesperson said that the wreckage of the helicopter has been found, news agency PTI reported.
The incident took place on Monday night after the Indian Coast Guard launched an operation around 11 pm to evacuate an injured crew member from the Motor Tanker Hari Leela off Porbandar.
Following the recovery of the two corpses from the sea, the Porbandar's Navi Bandar police station on Tuesday night filed an accidental death report.
According to the report, the Coast Guard ALH carrying four crew members crashed into the sea around 30 nautical miles from the coast due to unknown reasons during a medical emergency rescue mission mid sea.
The rescued crew member, Gautam Kumar, is currently admitted to a hospital.
