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5 Ahmedabad residents killed in Swiss copter crash

Dilip Gohil in Ahmedabad

Two helicopters carrying Indian tourists on a sightseeing trip to the Alpine glaciers collided On Tuesday, killing eight people and seriously injuring four others, the police said. Of the victims, five are said to be from a company in Ahmedabad that is trading in iron and steel. According to information, their names are Janak Kansara, Navin Desai, Vijay Chaudhri, and Mrs and Mr Santosh Jain.

As 60 other Indian tourists watched from a soccer field below, the rotors of the two helicopters struck each other during their landing approach, some 50 feet above the ground, a witness told Swiss radio.

Apart from the pilot who was Swiss, the dead were all Indian.

Six passengers and the pilot on one of the helicopters were killed, police said. One passenger on the other helicopter was killed, and the pilot and three other passengers were injured.

The injured were hospitalized, but the police said later that they were out of danger.

Police said the Indian tourists who witnessed the crash were immediately offered counseling.

The collision occurred above a soccer field in the community of Beuson, three miles southwest of the town of Sion, the police said.

The helicopters had been taking off and landing on the field as they took small groups on 10-minute sightseeing trips.

The police have enlisted the help of federal civil aviation officials to establish the cause of the accident.

Both helicopters belonged to the company Air-Glaciers, which offers sightseeing tours and air taxi services. The accident was the worst helicopter accident in Swiss history. An army crash in 1982 had claimed seven lives.

It was the second fatal crash involving the company this month. On September 5, an Air-Glaciers helicopter crashed in the Jura mountains in western Switzerland, killing the pilot who was alone on board.

The crash in the Alps has sent shockwaves through Ahmedabad's steel and aluminum markets. According to family members in the city, the group had left for Germany on September 18 to participate in an aluminum trade fair there. After finishing with the business, the group decided to go sight-seeing in Switzerland, where the crash happened.

EARLIER REPORT:
8 Indian tourists perish in Swiss copter accident

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