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Srinagar, Mar 11: A co-pilot was killed and pilot was critically injured when an Army Cheetah helicopter crashed in Baraub area of Gurez area in Bandipora district of north Kashmir on Friday afternoon.

The copter crashed while it was on a routine mission to evacuate an ailing soldier from a forward post along the Line of Control, defence ministry spokesman here said in a statemen.

“The helicopter lost communication contact with the forward post at Gujran, Baraub. A search operation on foot was immediately launched by the Indian Army alongside search and rescue helicopters which were pressed into service,” he said, adding, “The wreckage of the crashed helicopter was found in a snow bound Gujran Nallah.”

Pilot and the co-pilot of the helicopter were grievously injured in the crash and were immediately evacuated to Base Hospital, Srinagar, he said.

“Maj Sankalp Yadav, the co-pilot succumbed to his injuries at 92 Base Hospital,” he said, adding, “The injured pilot was further evacuated to Command Hospital, Udhampur.” He is critical, but stable, the spokesman said. The injured pilot was identified by sources as Lt. Col BK Divedi. “Events leading to the crash of the helicopter are being ascertained,” the spokesman, meanwhile, said further.

Regarding Maj Sankalp Yadav (29), the spokesman said that he was commissioned in Indian Army in 2015 and was a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan. He is survived by his father.