The country’s first chief of staff, General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others died in an IAF helicopter crash near Coonoor, in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district on Wednesday. afternoon. Rough terrain and fog were the cause of the accident.

The other people who died in the crash were Brigadier LS Lidder, Lieutenant Colonel H Singh, Wing Commander PS Chauhan, Squadron Leader K Singh, Junior Warrant Officer Das, Junior Warrant Officer Pradeep A , Havildar Satpal, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitender, Lance Naik Vivek and Lance Naik S Teja.

Group Captain Varun Singh, directing the staff of the Defense Services Staff College in Wellington, was the only survivor. He is currently being treated at Wellington Military Hospital.

Here’s how some of India’s leading English newspapers covered the story.

Indian expressThe Delhi front page led with a banner headline, “Gen Bipin Rawat, top defense officer and wife among 13 killed in helicopter crash,” alongside images of the Rawat couple and one of the scene of the accident. The captions included: “Shocked, Deeply Pained: President and Prime Minister Lead Nation in Paying Tribute.”

Another caption mentioned how Varun Singh had a “close call” last year, receiving a Shaurya Chakra for bravery. The article explained how Singh lost control of a light fighter plane due to a system failure. The captain managed to land the aircraft safely.

Four of the front-page articles focused on Rawat, including how he had “written a roadmap for reforms and upgrading”, and that his boots were “difficult to fill”. In this “special at the Express“ section, Ashok K Mehta details all of India’s first Chief of Defense Staff’s plans to revamp the country’s defense architecture.

Page 7 of the diary was devoted entirely to the “Coonoor Crash” with “snapshots of an officer” featuring the late general with the prime minister and others. The page featured messages of condolence and a brief history of his life. In a special function called E. Explained, the diary details everything there is to know about the helicopter involved in the fatal crash, including the characteristics of the helicopter and its involvement in previous crashes.

The India time The headline in Delhi was “India’s First CDS Killed in Helicopter Crash” with a caption: “Minutes to Destination, Crack and Wreckage on Fire”. The footage included the fire at the crash site alongside an image of Rawat with his wife Madhulika. Another caption read “Gen was found alive, died on his way to hospital: rescuer”.

It should be noted that the India time was one of the first media organizations to report that Rawat was in the helicopter shortly after the crash.

The report said: “CDS General Bipin Rawat was alive and able to say his name when he was extracted from the wreckage of the Mi-17V5 with another passenger, later identified as Group Captain Varun Singh,” said a senior fire official who was among the first to reach the crash site near Coonoor … “

Pages 14 and 15 were entirely devoted to various accomplishments and anecdotes from the life of the deceased general, with headlines like “General Rawat survived the 2015 crash unscathed” and “Frankly, he rarely fired his shots.”

In its Chennai edition, the Hindu The title of the banner read: “Rawat, 12 others killed in TN helicopter crash”. A caption noted that “CDS was bound for Wellington Defense Services Staff College.” The page, like most newspapers, featured an image of the crash site with testimony that “the helicopter hit a tree.”

Page 9 was also dedicated to the crash with a banner, “Coonoor ghat, on flight path, in shock”. The newspaper’s correspondent in Ooty included eyewitness testimony, including one who said “he initially thought an LPG cylinder had exploded.” Such was the gravity of the explosion ”. The page also included a tribute from Lieutenant General AK Bhatt, who retired as the military secretary of the army, and remembered the late general as a man characterized by “personal honesty and integrity.” .

The TelegraphThe Kolkata edition carried the banner “General Rawat killed in ‘unfortunate accident'” with a slug “Chopper crash in TN, 13 dead, 1 injured”. Telegraph chose to write “unfortunate accident” with quotation marks, suggesting an ambiguity.

Of the four front-page articles on Rawat, one explained how military operations will not have a direct impact on the crash. Another explained how Rawat’s tenure was “marked by controversy,” including the 2017 incident where Rawat defended Major Leetul Gogoi for strapping a Kashmiri native to his jeep hood as a human shield.

Another front page article – “IAF tweet announcing deaths” – said “Several veterans expressed shock that General Rawat’s death was announced on Twitter rather than a senior minister making a public statement “.

On page 4, Telegraph has published articles on the controversies surrounding the life of the deceased general. It also included an article on Indian dignitaries involved in plane crashes. One of the reports called the Mi 17 V5 helicopter a “reliable workhorse” and another said that “memories of 1963” were “rekindled” when five senior Indian military commanders were killed in a crash. helicopter near Jammu and Kashmir.

The Hindustan times The first page contained a photo of the crash site with the headline “CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat and his wife among 13 killed” with “tragic helicopter crash” slug. There was no detailed story on page 1; the rest of the page had clips on cricket, city news, farmer protests and more.

On page 4, the journal featured a PTI copy with more details, as well as a Reuters report titled “General Bipin Rawat Led Pioneering Reforms at Time of Fatal Crash.” “The Indian Army, Navy and Air Force have long operated independently of each other and Rawat’s tenure since 2019 when he was appointed the first Chief of the Defense Staff, was to reorganize them into a single, modern force with American-style Joint Theater Commands. “, notes the report.