Chopper goes missing in J&K

SRINAGAR: A chopper carrying four foreign heli-skiers went missing over the Gund area in the Sonamarg resort of central Kashmir on Friday.

Tourism officials said the Alute helicopter with four foreigners on board, including famous Swiss heli-skier Saudan Sylvain, took off from Srinagar at 10.30 am for Sonamarg. But it did not report back, fuelling speculations that the chopper might have crashed due to bad weather.

Director of tourism department, Farooq Ahmad Shah, said the chopper took off in the morning as usual but it did not report back at 4.30 pm which is their reporting time.

“Later, rescue teams of air force went to the spot but due to darkness they could not find anything. They will resume the operation on Saturday morning. The chopper was piloted by a Romanian national,” he said.

Superintendent of police, Ganderbal, Abdul Razak Khan said they have dispatched a team to find their whereabouts.

Deputy inspector general of police, central Kashmir range, Farooq Ahmad said they are presuming them as missing since no body has confirmed anything. “We can’t say anything at this juncture,” he said.