Bengaluru, Oct 31 — Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Saturday that all arrangements had been made to bring back the bodies of those who died in the air crash tragedy in Uttarakhand, describing the incident as "shocking" and "deeply tragic".
Five pilgrims, including a police inspector from Karnataka and the helicopter pilot died in a tragic helicopter crash near Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday.
Arun Salunke (Central Crime Branch Bengaluru Police Inspector), H.S. Nataraj (Tumakuru businessman), Prathapa Bachihally Ningaraju (Hassan/Bengaluru Civil Contractor/businessman), Sudheer K. (Bengaluru Advocate) and Shankar Gowda V.B. (Tumakuru/Bengaluru Advocate) were the deceased persons.
"The tragedy that has taken place in Uttarakhand is shocking. We have already made all the arrangements to bring back the deceased bodies," Shivakumar said while speaking to media in Bengaluru.
Expressing grief over the deaths, the Karnataka Chief Minister said the victims had travelled to pray to God but were caught in the tragedy.
"This is a very sad matter. They went there to pray to God, and this happened. It is tragic. May their souls rest in peace," he added.
Shivakumar said he had visited the area two years ago and was aware of the difficulties being faced by people in the region.
He noted that the concerned governments and authorities, including those in Delhi, were attentive to the situation and that he had conveyed all the necessary information to them.
The Chief Minister appealed to the travellers to exercise greater caution during such journeys in the future.
"I request travellers to be more careful," he said.
Shivakumar added that he had spoken to local authorities and seers in Uttarakhand regarding the situation.
He said he had been informed that the Kedarnath temple would be closed on November 10.
The Karnataka Chief Minister also said that the priest at the Kedarnath temple was from Karnataka and had told him that he would meet him with prasadam.
"People need to be careful," Shivakumar reiterated, while expressing condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said on Saturday that five people from Karnataka, including an Inspector serving with the Central Crime Branch (CCB), were killed along with the pilot in a helicopter crash in Uttarakhand.
Describing the incident as "very unfortunate", Singh said three of the deceased were from Bengaluru, while the others were from Hassan and Tumakuru districts.
"One of them is one of our Inspectors who was working with the CCB. It is just too unfortunate that he had to meet with this sort of an end," the City Police Commissioner added.
The Inspector and the other passengers were returning when the helicopter crashed on Friday.
Singh said the police authorities became anxious soon after learning that the helicopter could not be traced and that there were no signals from it.
"We were in touch with the senior officers in Dehradun. Unfortunately, the news was that the chopper was not traceable and there were no signals from the chopper. The worst fears came true when we came to know that the chopper had crashed and everyone had perished," he added.
The Bengaluru Police Commissioner said the Karnataka Police would extend all possible support to the families of the deceased.
"We are there with the families, not only with the Inspector's family but also with the families of all the other four people who have perished. We are in touch with their family members," Singh added.
He said that the Karnataka government's Disaster Management Wing was coordinating with the Uttarakhand disaster management authorities to bring back the bodies.
However, the recovery operation was facing difficulties as the bodies were reportedly in a severely damaged condition and were lying in a deep valley, he added.
"We have sent our teams of officers and are monitoring each and every situation," Singh said.
Expressing condolences to the bereaved families, the City Police Commissioner added that the entire police force stood with the families of the victims.