6 IAF officers, civilian killed after Mi-17 helicopter crashes in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam

The crash took place in the backdrop of heavy shelling and firing from across the border a day after IAF fighter jets crossed the Line of Control and destroyed a vast terror camp within Pakistan in a pre-dawn strike on Tuesday. The helicopter crashed in an open field near Garend Kalaan village in Budgam around 10.05 am, they said, adding seven bodies have been recovered from the scene.

Besides the pilots, an operator and three other crew members lost their lives in the crash, the officials said. The local resident has been identified as Kifayat Hussain Ganaie, they said. Officials in New Delhi said it was an Mi-17 helicopter.

Earlier, officials in Srinagar had described the downed aircraft as a jet. They said the aircraft broke into two and caught fire immediately. Visuals showed the wrecked fuselage of the IAF chopper in flames and a large number of villagers standing around it. The area has been on high alert amid warnings of retaliation after the air strikes by India on Tuesday.