Helicopter services in Uttarakhand's flood-hit Arakot suspended following two crashes in four days, may impact relief work

Uttarkashi: District administration on Saturday announced that helicopter services were temporarily suspended in Arakot region after two helicopters crashed in the area in the last four days. [caption id=“attachment_7220411” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Two helicopters carrying flood relief materials have crashed in Uttarkashi in the last 4 days. ANI[/caption] The helicopters were being used to carry relief material to flood-hit Arakot village situated in Mori block of the district. One helicopter had crash-landed near a river in Tikochi area on Friday injuring the people on board, including the pilot and co-pilot. Earlier, three people had lost their lives after another helicopter had crashed in the region on Wednesday. What caused the helicopter to crash is yet to be ascertained. Several teams of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local authorities have been carrying out rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected region. At least 15 people have lost their lives while 20 people are still missing following the cloud-burst and floods that crippled the region. (ANI)