An Indian tourist has died after two helicopters collided near the base camp of Mount Everest.
Footage shared by the Press Trust of India shows the blades from both choppers clipping each other while attempting to land at Pheriche in Ward 4 of the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality of Solukhumbu district on Tuesday (3 November).
The helicopters, carrying cargo, were operated by Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty, and collided at around 8.11 am local time, having taken off from Lukla Airport.
In a statement, the Embassy of India in Kathmandu said it ‘expresses its deepest condolences on the unfortunate demise of an Indian national in an incident involving collision between two helicopters in the Solukhumbu district of Nepal today’.
“The Embassy is working in close coordination with Nepali authorities for early repatriation of the mortal remains of the deceased,” they added.
An Indian tourist died in the collision (Nepal Police)
A spokesman for Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority, Gyanendra Bhul suggested that the incident could have been the result of an accident.
“It appears the accident happened when two helicopters… attempted to land at the same spot,” Bhul said.
Fishtail Air has named Indian national Vasanth Kumar Balaramudu as the man who was killed in the crash.
The two helicopters collided while landing in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district on Tuesday (3 November) (Press Trust of India)
Police Inspector Mausam Tamang said Shailesh Krishna Patel, a 49-year-old Indian origin resident of New Zealand, who was also aboard the same helicopter, was injured in the collision.
He was airlifted to Mediciti Hospital in Kathmandu by a Prabhu Helicopter, Tamang said.
Nepalese pilots, Rabindra Prajapati of Fishtail Air and Prajwal KC of Dynasty Air, were also injured in the incident and have been taken to Kathmandu for further treatment.
The number of passengers aboard the two helicopters at the time of the collision has yet to be confirmed.
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