The Hindu : 22 bodies recovered from copter wreck

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 14, 2003

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22 bodies recovered from copter wreck

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI AUG. 13. Divers of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission found 22 bodies in the wreckage they salvaged today of the MI-172 helicopter that had crashed in the Neelam Offshore Oilfield on Monday.

The wreckage was put on board Sea Mac II, ONGC's diving support vessel, and the bodies were airlifted to Juhu helibase in northwest Mumbai.

An ONGC spokesperson said the bodies had been identified and handed over to the bereaved families.

While three bodies were recovered earlier, the co-pilot, Capt. D.K. Mittal and an ONGC officer, R.M. Murthy, are still missing.

Two persons survived the crash. The Chief Operations Officer of the Coast Guard, DIG R.S. Sharma, said the Naval ships, the Air Force helicopter and the fast patrol vessel of the Coast Guard, Amrit Kaur, involved in rescue operations, had been withdrawn from the scene.

But the advanced offshore patrol vessel, CGS Samar, and Coast Guard Dornier continued to look for the missing persons.

The non-cooperation stir of the ONGC employees had not affected the offshore oil production, the spokesperson said.

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