Hyderabad, Sep 3 (Inditop.com) The helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has been traced in Nallamalla forests in Kurnool district Thursday morning, a defence official said around 24 hours after it went missing. However, the fate of the chief minister and four others still remain uncertain. Unconfirmed reports said the helicopter was mangled.
“We have located the helicopter. It is on top of a hill 40 nautical miles east of Kurnool. We are trying to find out if there are survivors,” the official told reporters in Kurnool, in southern Andhra Pradesh.
The official was unable to say in what condition they found the helicopter, though sources in the home ministry said it seemed to have crashed and was mangled.
“We are not very sure whether it crashed or not,” he said when asked if the chopper had crashed.
“Two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters are over the location, orbiting there trying to find a place to land. Since it is a jungle and a hill it is difficult to land there,” said the official identified as Wing Commander Bharat by a television channel.
Inspector General of Police Rajiv Trivedi, who is leading the ground search operations, has also confirmed that the missing chopper has been traced.
“We have received some information and we are going out to verify it. Other parties are also reaching there. God willing everything will be alright,” he said.
Andhra Agriculture Minister Raghu Veera Reddy, speaking to TV news channel CNN-IBN, said the hilltop where the helicopter had been found was the site of a temple called Rudrakodur. He said searchers on the ground were having trouble reaching the spot because the terrain was very slushy, while the rescue helicopters were finding it difficult to land on the small hilltop. The densely forested area was covered in mist as well, though it had stopped raining.
The helicopter was traced 24 hours after it went missing in the dense Nallamalla forests in Kurnool district.
The helicopter, carrying the chief minister, his special secretary, chief security officer and two pilots, took off from Hyderabad at 8.35 a.m. Wednesday for Chittoor district. Around 9.45 a.m., the chopper lost contact with air traffic control.
