Uttarkashi, August 21: A private helicopter carrying relief material to flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand, crashed in Uttarkashi district on Wednesday, killing three persons on board. According to Uttarkashi Disaster Management officer Devendra Patwal, the deceased include the pilot, co-pilot and a local. The helicopter belonging to Heritage Aviation crashed near Moldi while returning after distributing relief material among the affected people, Patwal told PTI over the phone. Cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained and further details of the incident are awaited.

A cloudburst had hit Mori Tehsil in Uttarkashi district on Sunday, prompting the state government to dispatch teams of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to carry out rescue and evacuation operations. The IAF also pressed its helicopters as relief and rescue teams were facing problem reaching the area due to damaged roads. Six People Die Due to Cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh.

Makuri, Tikochi, Arakot are the most affected villages in the Mori tehsil. Authorities have so far recovered bodies of 15 people who died in last week's cloudburst, while 20 people are still missing. As many as 17 people were reported dead in the cloudburst in Mori tehsil as on Monday, according to Secretary (Incharge) Disaster Management, S A Murugesan.

On Sunday, bodies of six people including a Nepali national were recovered by the state police officials in the border area of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarkashi. The cloudburst had triggered heavy rains and landslides at various places in Uttarakhand. Chardham Yatra routes are also blocked by debris of landslides at various points affecting the yatra partially.

The Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway was blocked at Lambagad and Tangri, the Kedarnath highway at Banswada and Jamu Nursery, Gangotri NH at Harshil, Badeti and Helgugad and Yamunotri Highway at Dabarkot, according to the State Emergency Operations Centre.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2019 12:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).